Leadership and Permanent Staff

Scripps National Spelling Bee

Paige P. Kimble, director, is the 1981 national champion and the 1980 runner-up representing the El Paso Herald-Post. This is her 25th year with the program, having served 8 years on staff, 4 years as assistant director, 2 years as a co-director, and 11 years as director.

Carolyn B. Andrews, word list manager, works full-time for the program from her home in Tennessee. Her oldest son, Ned, won the 1994 national championship. She has worked for the program in various capacities since late 1994.

Corrie E. Loeffler, project manager, is serving her second year on the Bee’s permanent staff after having served five years on crew and one year on staff. She represented the Merced Sun-Star in the 1994, 1995, and 1996 national finals, tying for sixth place in 1996.

Sara R. Mitchell, development manager, works full-time for the program from The E.W. Scripps Company’s corporate office. This is Sara’s first year of association with the program.

Cybelle L. Weeks, project manager, works full-time for the program from The E.W. Scripps Company’s corporate office. This is Cybelle’s 11th year of association with the program.

Lauren P. Lichkay, administrative assistant, works full-time for the program from The E.W. Scripps Company’s corporate office. This is Lauren’s first year of association with the program.

Janice S. Liebenberg, administrative assistant, works full-time for the program from The E.W. Scripps Company’s corporate office. This is Janice’s second year of association with the program.

The E.W. Scripps Company

Kenneth W. Lowe is president and chief executive officer of The E.W. Scripps Company. Prior to 2000 he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Scripps Networks in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Timothy E. Stautberg is vice president of communications and investor relations for The E.W. Scripps Company. Prior to 1999 he held leadership positions for the Redding Record Searchlight and the Denver RockyMountain News.

Tim King, media liaison, is director of employee communications for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mark W. Kroeger, media liaison, is the director of communications and investor relations for The E.W. Scripps Company. Before joining Scripps’s corporate office in 1997 he was business editor and metro editor for the Evansville Courier in Indiana.

Officials

Dr. Jacques A. Bailly, pronouncer, is the 1980 national champion representing the RockyMountain News. He is an associate professor of classics at the University of Vermont. This is his sixth year as pronouncer after having served 12 years as associate pronouncer.

Dr. Brian Mark Sietsema, associate pronouncer, is an ordained priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and is currently serving a parish in Lansing, Michigan. After receiving a doctorate in linguistics in 1989, he was the pronunciation editor for Merriam-Webster from 1990 to 1998. This is Dr. Sietsema's sixth year as associate pronouncer.

Mary Brooks, head judge, teaches at a West Des Moines, Iowa, junior high school and also serves as site coordinator for her school district’s beginning teacher mentor program. She has served the program in various capacities for the past 37 years, including 22 years as a judge and 5 years as a co-director.

Blake Giddens, judge, is the 1983 national champion representing the El Paso Herald-Post. He is a professional engineer for a civil engineering firm in Fairfax, Virginia. This is his eighth year as a judge after having served five years as auxiliary judge and four years on crew.

Dr. Sandra C. Harrell, judge, is the acting director of reading/language arts for grades K-12 for the Birmingham Public Schools in Alabama. She is an experienced judge for the Birmingham Post-Herald, and this is her 11th year as a national finals judge.

Dr. Ed Low, judge, is a professor emeritus of English at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. This is Dr. Low’s 15th year as a judge for the national finals. He has served as a judge for the Rocky Mountain News spelling bee for 20 years and for the Daily Camera (Boulder) spelling bee for 10 years.

Dr. Balu Natarajan, judge, is the 1985 national champion representing the Chicago Tribune. He is a board certified internal and sports medicine physician practicing in Chicago. This is his first year as a national finals judge.

Dr. Michelle M. Mehta, auxiliary judge, is a resident physician in psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Michelle represented the El Paso Herald-Post in the 1988 finals. This is her eighth year as an auxiliary judge after having served seven years on crew.

James G. Lowe, word panelist, is a senior editor for Merriam-Webster in Springfield, Massachusetts. This is his 24th year as a word panelist.

Barrie Trinkle, word panelist, is the 1973 national champion representing the Fort Worth Press. She is a free-lance editor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This is her 12th year as a word panelist.

Staff

Andy Andrews, technical representative, is an electrical engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Mark Bowen, photographer, is a professional free-lance photographer in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Bryan Brandeberry, production staff, is a database administrator for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio

Craig Bucki, press desk, is an attorney specializing in civil litigation at Phillips Lytle LLP in Buffalo, New York. He represented the Buffalo News in the 1995 and 1996 national finals.

Joe Butts, production staff, is director of Business Applications for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mike Driscoll, production staff, is manager of desktop support for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Paul Gilman, stage manager, is senior manager of human resources and collaborative systems for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dr. Robyn Hildal, press desk manager, is director of staffing and diversity for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ieesha McKinzie, stage manager and press desk, is a second grade teacher for Teach For America in Atlanta, Georgia.

Justin Nethers, production staff, is a systems analyst for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Brett Pappas, production staff, is a senior systems analyst for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Paul Riccobene, production staff, is a senior network engineer for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Angela Zeroski Rose, record keeper, is senior manager of Internet and e-commerce for Kroger Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio. She represented the Herald-Star of Steubenville, Ohio, in the 1989 national finals.

Mike Rose, technical representative, is an applications specialist with the education and training department of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sameer Soleja, press desk, is an IT consultant in Houston, Texas. He represented Valley Freedom Newspapers in the 1993, 1994, and 1995 national finals, tying for sixth place in 1995.

David Taylor, production staff, is a desktop support technician for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Nancy Tretter, security coordinator, is manager of executive office administration for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Greg Touney, press desk, is an editor for CBS College Sports Network in Chicago, Illinois. Greg represented the Herald & Review of Decatur, Illinois, in the 1999 national finals, tying for ninth place.

Joe Whitacre, production staff, is a project manager for The E.W. Scripps Company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Crew

Gary Andrews, of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, is a freshman religion major at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Katherine Butschek, of Hallettsville, Texas, is a junior finance major at Texas A&M University in College Station. Katherine represented the Victoria Advocate of Victoria, Texas, in the 2000 national finals.

Karen Due, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, is a senior violin performance major at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Karen represented the Bismarck Tribune of Bismarck, North Dakota, in the 2000 national finals.

Lynne Guey, of West Palm Beach, Florida, is a freshman at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Lynne represented the Palm Beach Post in the 2003 national finals, and her sister Wendy is the 1996 national champion.

Kristin Hawkins, of Sterling, Virginia, is a junior foreign affairs and economics major at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Kristin represented the Loudoun Times-Mirror of Leesburg, Virginia, in the 1999, 2000, and 2001 national finals, placing second in 2001.

Trevor Mahoney, of Marshfield, Wisconsin, is a sophomore actuarial science and risk management and insurance major at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Trevor represented the Wisconsin State Journal in the 2002 national finals.

Nick Muller, of El Paso, Texas, is a sophomore public relations major at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

Bridget Nealis, crew co-captain, of Mason, Ohio, is a junior finance major at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

Malorie Nealis, of Mason, Ohio, is a freshman at Mason High School.

Laura Peterson, of Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, is a sophomore nursing major at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Henry Pollock, of Urbana, Illinois, is a junior biology and classics major at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Henry represented the News-Gazette of Champaign, Illinois, in the 2000 and 2001 national finals, tying for third place in 2001.

Carrie Porter, crew co-captain, of Terrace Park, Ohio, is a junior journalism and international studies major with a minor in business at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Jennifer Rios, of Mariposa, California, is a sophomore linguistics major with a TESOL emphasis at California State University in Fresno. Jennifer represented the Merced Sun-Star in the 2001 and 2002 national finals.

Hester Shieh, of Paradise Valley, Arizona, is a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. She majored in chemical-biological engineering and biology with a minor in psychology. Hester represented the Arizona Educational Foundation in the 2000 national finals.

Lauren Terry, of Columbus, Ohio, is a sophomore psychology major with a minor in business management at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

George Thampy, of St. Louis, Missouri, is a sophomore chemistry major with a minor in Russian studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. George represented the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the 1998, 1999, and 2000 national finals; and he is the 2000 national champion.

Mallika Thampy, of St. Louis, Missouri, is a second-year student in six-year B.A./M.D. program at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Mallika represented the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the 2001 and 2002 national finals.

Scott Toland, of Iola, Kansas, is a sophomore journalism major at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Scott represented the Topeka Capital-Journal in the 2001 and 2002 national finals.

Michael Witt, of Landen, Ohio, is a sophomore business major at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.