Anurag Kashyap (born November 23, 1991) was the winner of the 2005

Scripps National Spelling Bee The Scripps National Spelling Bee, formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and often referred to as the National Spelling Bee or simply “the Spelling Bee” in the United States, is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. ...

. He also won the ''Jeopardy!'' Teen Tournament in 2008.

Biography

Kashyap was born in

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

, India and raised in

Poway, California Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city had a population of 48,841 as of the 2020 United States census. Poway is part of San Diego's East ...

. He entered his first spelling bee for

Poway Unified School District Poway Unified School District is a school district based in Poway, California. The district operates 26 elementary schools (grades Preschool–5), seven middle schools (6–8); five comprehensive high schools (9–12); and one continuation hi ...

when he was in fourth grade at Valley Elementary School, and continued competing as a student at Meadowbrook Middle School. In 2004, he placed 47th in the national spelling bee. In the 19th round of the 2005

, 13-year-old eighth-grader Kashyap successfully spelled the word

appoggiatura An appoggiatura ( , ; or ; ) is a musical ornament that consists of an added non-chord note in a melody that is resolved to the regular note of the chord. By putting the non-chord tone on a strong beat, (typically the first or third beats of ...

, which is defined as "a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time." He won about $28,000 in cash and prizes, most of which he saved towards college. In 2008, Kashyap competed in the 25th season of the ''Jeopardy!'' Teen Tournament. At the end of the ten-day tournament, Kashyap defeated Bradley Silverman from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and Audrey Hosford from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

to become only the second student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee and the Teen Tournament (the first was 1992 Spelling Bee and 1996 Teen Tournament champion Amanda Goad). Kashyap graduated from

Rancho Bernardo High School Rancho Bernardo High School (RBHS) is a public high school in San Diego County, California. It is part of Poway Unified School District. The school was opened in 1991 as the district's third high school. Enrollment For the 2019-2020 school ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in 2010, and had also studied at the

Salk Institute The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among th ...

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

, first as a summer intern with

Inder Verma Inder Mohan Verma (born 28 November 1947) is an Indian American molecular biologist, the former Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of Califo ...

doing stem cell research in 2008. He enrolled at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

with intentions to study biological sciences, graduated with a Bachelor's in 2015, and got his Master of Engineering in 2016. Kashyap returned to competitive quizzing in adulthood, and won the Mimir's Well Carnation championship in May 2022.

References

External links

Kashyap's Jeopardy! Teen Tournament player profile
(archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kashyap, Anurag American Hindus American people of Indian descent American spellers Contestants on American game shows People from San Diego Spelling bee champions Scripps National Spelling Bee participants Living people 1991 births People from Muzaffarpur Rancho Bernardo High School alumni Indian emigrants to the United States

Biography

See also

References

External links