Eczema
The Associated Press report carried by The Telegraph on 11 June 1965 was headed "Boy Scout, 12 Tops National Spelling Bee". The Toledo Blade had run its own account the previous day: "Boy Strikes Winning Chord in Spelling Bee".
Eczema is a short word and a hard one — Greek in origin, with a z where English instinct expects something softer, and no useful internal logic for a speller who has not met it. He was sponsored by the Tulsa Tribune, and the record here makes him one of only two Oklahoma champions in the bee's history.
The economist in the field
Ben Bernanke competed in the same bee and placed 26th, going out on edelweiss. Four decades later he would be running the American central bank through a financial crisis, which has made the 1965 field one of the most cited in the competition's history.
The Tulsa World returned to the story on 1 November 2014, with the champion himself reflecting on the win. The angle was irresistible by then: a Tulsa Boy Scout who had outlasted a future Federal Reserve chairman on a stage in Washington, and who had spent the intervening half-century entirely out of the news.
The Ed Sullivan prize
The champion's package in that era included a trip to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Sunday-night programme that was then the largest single platform in American entertainment. A national spelling champion shared a bill with whatever else Sullivan had booked that week.
It is a detail that dates the bee precisely. Before cable coverage and prime-time finals, the competition borrowed its national exposure from variety television, and the champion's week ended in a New York studio rather than on a sports network.
What is documented — and what is not
Documented: a win at the 1965 National Spelling Bee on eczema, aged twelve, by a Tulsa Boy Scout sponsored by the Tulsa Tribune; Ben Bernanke's 26th place in the same bee, eliminated on edelweiss; a prize that included an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; status as one of only two Oklahoma champions; and a 2014 Tulsa World interview in which he looked back on the win.
Not documented in the sources used here: his date of birth; his school and grade; the runner-up; his education and career; and anything about his adult life beyond the fact that a local paper found him in 2014. He is recorded in some places as Michael Kerpan Jr.
Why the 1965 field matters
Every bee produces one champion and a hundred children who are nearly as good. The 1965 competition is a reminder of how little the placing predicts: the winner receded into private life; the boy in 26th place ran the Federal Reserve during the worst financial crisis since the Depression.
The competition is honest about what it measures — a specific skill on a specific evening — and it has never claimed to forecast anything. It is the surrounding coverage that turns a title into a prophecy. Read properly, the 1965 result says that a dozen-year-old from Tulsa was the best prepared speller in the room that night, and that the room contained at least one other person whose preparation went somewhere else entirely.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Kerpan | United States | Winning the 1965 National Spelling Bee | Age 12 |
| Arvind Mahankali | United States | Won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Kerry Close | United States | Won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Hugh Tosteson García | Puerto Rico (United States) | National Spelling Bee champion 1975 | Age 14 |
| Roy Seligman | Bahamas | First speller from the Bahamas to reach the Scripps National Spelling Bee… | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Won the 1965 National Spelling Bee on eczema, aged twelve, from Tulsa (AP, 11 June 1965).
- Ben Bernanke competed in the same bee and finished 26th, eliminated on edelweiss.
- Sponsored by the Tulsa Tribune; reported as one of only two Oklahoma champions.
- Interviewed by the Tulsa World about the win on 1 November 2014.
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- His date of birth, school and grade are not published in the sources used here.
- The 1965 runner-up is not recorded on this page.
- His education and career are not documented.
- He appears in some records as Michael Kerpan Jr.; the sources used here do not settle the form of the name.
Questions people ask about Michael Kerpan
What word did Michael Kerpan win on?
Eczema, at the 1965 National Spelling Bee.
Did Ben Bernanke compete in the same bee?
Yes. The future Federal Reserve chairman placed 26th in 1965 and was eliminated on the word edelweiss.
How old was Michael Kerpan?
Twelve, which implies a birth year around 1952 or 1953. No source used here gives a date of birth.
Who sponsored him?
The Tulsa Tribune, which ran the regional bee for his part of Oklahoma.
What did he win?
The national title, and a prize package that included a trip to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Where is Michael Kerpan now?
The Tulsa World interviewed him in November 2014. Nothing later is documented in the sources used here.
Is Michael Kerpan on Wikipedia?
There is no separate article about him. His name leads to Wikipedia's article on the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Michael’s story?
Which word won the 1965 National Spelling Bee?
Where did Ben Bernanke finish in that bee?
Which newspaper sponsored Michael Kerpan?
Sources
- Former national champion speller from Tulsa reflects on his winning — Tulsa World, 2014-11-01
- Boy Scout, 12 Tops National Spelling Bee — The Telegraph (AP), 1965-06-11
- Boy Strikes Winning Chord in Spelling Bee — Toledo Blade, 1965-06-10
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
Discover More Child Prodigies
50+ stories of contemporary young geniuses changing chess, music, science, and art.
Explore All Prodigies →Related Child Prodigy Profiles
Arvind Mahankali🇺🇸 United States — He spelled 'knaidel', won the national bee…
Kerry Close🇺🇸 United States — Four national bees ended in defeat. The fifth ended with a…
Sriram Hathwar🇺🇸 United States — He was the bee's youngest speller at eight. Six years…
Balu Natarajan🇺🇸 United States — An immigrant's son won America's English competition in…
Sai Gunturi🇺🇸 United States — 32nd, then 16th, then 7th, then champion. Sai Gunturi…
Sameer Mishra🇺🇸 United States — He misheard a word, got the biggest laugh in the bee's…
