WSC 2025 scheduling information coming soon!
Jacob Williamson
Founder of WSO, Executive Director of WSC
Jacob can rightly be considered the primary inventor of professional spelling in the US. Hailing originally from south Florida, he has a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and is currently a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Virginia. He has been active as a speller and organizer in top-tier spelling bees for over a decade.
After finishing as a finalist at the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee, his final eligible year, Jacob almost immediately began searching for events accommodating spellers past 8th grade. Finding a severe deficiency in this market sector, he began making plans to create such an event of his own - if he couldn't find major competitive opportunities for himself, he would dedicate his efforts so that other spellers would have them. His efforts finally came to fruition in 2022 with the first World Spelling Championship. He has also continued to be intermittently active as a competitive speller, although he has no wins to speak of, usually matching up against World Champion competition.
At WSO, Jacob is the primary word list builder, makes scheduling decisions with SpellPundit's assistance, does the majority of pronouncing on event days, and oversees officiating decisions. Above all, he believes in every speller's right to play the game they love without boundaries, a commitment that guides every decision made at WSO. Once that cause is well and truly secured, he plans to retire from the directorship to fully pursue a pro spelling career.
Tata Soesetyo
Chief Recordkeeper, International Outreach Coordinator
Dyah Ayu Megantari "Tata" Soesetyo Putri is an international relations graduate from Indonesia who has spent a significant portion of her life participating in and organizing spelling competitions. She began her journey in 2006 and achieved notable success early on; by 2009, she was a semifinalist at the national level. Tata continued her competitive spelling career during high school and undergraduate studies, where she found her greatest success, winning the spelling bee segment of the Binus International Ecom (English Competition) twice in 2015 and 2016. Additionally, she earned silver medals in the Asian English Olympics in both 2015 and 2017. She culminated her competitive career by winning a gold medal in the Asian English Olympics in 2018.
After her successful spelling career, Tata took on judging roles at various levels—from club competitions to city-wide, provincial, national, and even Asian-level events. Notably, she has been judging the Asian English Olympics since 2020. Her experience in spelling also led her, in 2019, to co-found the Indonesian Wordsmith Society with fellow spellers, to give back to the community by promoting English literacy through spelling bees and vocabulary-related skill-building initiatives.
At WSO, Tata's duties include helping contribute to and maintain the WSC word list, and spreading WSO's mission to distant parts of the world. She is inspired by the opportunities she had to spell competitively long-term, a privilege Western spellers have largely lacked before WSC. Last but not least, Tata is our ever-diligent recordkeeper, ensuring that our event proceedings are documented accurately for future reference. As the Recording Judge on event days, she is also in charge of helping the officiating team settle disputes by reviewing replayed footage.
Our Volunteers
Join our team at the top right corner of the screen
We rely greatly on the work of temporary volunteers to make our events possible. Volunteering for WSO is an excellent opportunity to take part in our mission to remove obstacles and blaze trails for spellers in a non-competing capacity. Please consider applying to join our staff as a permanent member, or volunteering in a yearly or event-day role, at the link found at the top right corner of your screen.
