Executive Directors
David Madden - Executive Director
David Madden is the founder and Executive Director of International Academic Competitions. Having played quiz bowl for four years at Ridgewood High School from 1995-1999, college quiz bowl for two years at Princeton University, and been involved on a full-time basis overseeing IAC since 2010, he is well-versed with all the formats, concerns, and issues surrounding academic competition. He is committed to high standards for tournaments, well-written questions, and the growth of academic competition throughout the world. He is a 19-day champion on Jeopardy!, co-champion of the Jeopardy! All Star Games tournament, and published art historian. In his spare time, he enjoys running, bird watching, bodysurfing, skiing, and playing with his 3 parakeets.
David’s journey with IAC began in 2009 when he was taking courses to become a high school history teacher. In September of that year, he had the idea to run a history-themed quiz bowl tournament: the Tri-State History Bowl, which was attended by 34 teams in May 2010. Soon after that, he put his teaching plans on hold to establish The National History Bee and Bowl, the first two IAC competitions. He has since also established all the other competitions under the International Academic Competitions aegis, including the National Geography Bee, National History Bee, National Science Bee, United States Geography Championships, United States History Bee, National Academic Bee, National Academic Bowl, and their international counterparts (IAC runs events in over 20 countries each school year) among others. He is also the founder of the International History Olympiad, International Geography Championships, and the International Environmental Science Olympiad, each of which brings together the best students in those subjects from around the world every two years. For the 2025-26 academic year, David (who lives in Montpelier, Vermont) is also serving specifically as the New England Outreach Coordinator, with responsibility for growth and development in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
David is also a tour guide for IAC’s summer tours that accompany the Intl. History Olympiad and Intl. Geography Championships. He is fluent in German, due to his time as an AFS Exchange Student in Vienna for six months during his senior year of high school, and speaks conversational French and Italian. David is also a Rainforest Alliance Ambassador for environmental education and can be reached via email at david@iacompetitions.com.
Nolwenn Madden - Executive Director
Nolwenn Madden is the Co-Executive Director of International Academic Competitions. Prior to her career in academic competitions, Nolwenn studied at the French grande école EM Lyon where she received a MS in Management. She also worked as a translator for booking.com before launching the International History Bee and Bowl in 2011 and expanding its programs to over 30 countries. She has organized and directed hundreds of tournaments for IAC throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the ukulele and the cello, skiing, cooking, and traveling. She can be reached at nolwenn@iacompetitions.com.
Senior Directors
Deborah Pettingill - Senior Director of US Operations
Deborah can be easily spotted at our tournaments as she is the lady with the tiara! She has been the full time Director of Operations since the summer of 2021. She joined IAC staff part time as a Regional Coordinator in 2018 and has staffed and directed IAC tournaments since 2012. Prior to joining IAC full time she taught all levels of History for 22 years at Largo High School in Largo, Florida. She was the Faculty Advisor for Rho Kappa, Student Government, the Yearbook, and for the exchange program between Largo and Yamada High school in Japan, arranging for host families for the Japanese students and leading groups of students for homestay visits in Japan for 20 years.
In her spare time Deborah volunteers for National History Day, fosters kittens, and especially enjoys researching the Roman and Medieval time periods and recreating the clothing and art of those eras.
Jay Wickliff - Senior Director of Strategic Planning
As Director of strategic Planning and a member of the Executive Committee, Jay helps chart the future of
IAC. He is the co-founder of the Political Science Bee and coordinates the related discussion groups. He
designs academic games like the Great Trading Game and MCs award ceremonies at major competitions.
He also served as Executive Director at Presidential Classroom, a Washington-based civic education
program for outstanding high school students. Jay founded the Future World Leaders Summit for teenage
leaders from around the world.
As a teacher at Thomas Jefferson H.S.S.T., He coached the History Bowl team to a National
Championship. He taught history, economics and political science while coaching three state champion
tennis reams and directing a program for high-achieving, low-income middle school students.
Most of his career was spent in human resources management for international high-tech companies
highlighted by serving as Vice President for Global Human Resources at Gerber Scientific, Inc., a mid-
sized New York Stock Exchange listed company.
Lee Holden - Senior Director of Question Production
Lee Holden is the Director of Question Production. He joined IAC in 2021 as an editor and was promoted a year later to head the Question Production department. Lee holds a History and Philosophy degree from Wofford College (’18) and formerly worked as the Inventory Manager for Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, SC and as a manager at a premier restaurant in Miami, FL. In his spare time, Lee enjoys writing fiction and watching reality TV with his partner in his Vermont home.
USA Outreach Staff
John Garner - National Director of Outreach & Southern Region - Outreach Coordinator
John Garner, the National Director of Outreach and the Outreach Coordinator for the Southern Region has long been a staple of the IAC Family. In addition to John’s current position, he coordinates field trips for our international tournaments and is helping to develop IAC Journeys as a family travel initiative. John is also a former National History Bowl coach, a Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Georgia State History Teacher of the Year recipient, and worked for two decades as a teacher before joining IAC full time in August 2024. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling the country exploring all things history; spending time with his wife, five kids and two grandchildren; and coaching wrestling.
Note: IAC’s Southern Region encompasses the following states and territories: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (Greater Houston area), and the US Virgin Islands. If you’re from one of these states or territories and are interested in learning more about IAC, please reach out to John at john@iacompetitions.com !
Scott Fowler - Director of Scheduling
Scott joined IAC after winning IAC’s Middle School Coach of the Year award in 2015. That year, he staffed the first-ever International History Olympiad, and has staffed numerous international championship tournaments, where he often serves as the Field Trip Coordinator as well. A veteran quiz bowl coach of both high school and middle school, Scott’s teams from River Trail Middle School have won eight state titles in Georgia, and the 2024 NAQT Middle School National Championships. For IAC, Scott currently works as the full-time Director of Scheduling, with primary responsibility for scheduling the 200+ tournaments that IAC is scheduling now in the USA each academic year. Away from the world of academic competition, he is an avid football and futbol fan as well as a wine enthusiast and poker player.
If you’re interested in bringing an IAC tournament (either on the National Science, History, and Geography Bee model or on the National History Bee and Bowl model) to your school, please reach out to Scott at scott@iacompetitions.com !
Kiersten Brown - Specialist
If you’ve called the IAC phone, chances are you’ve talked to Kiersten Brown, our Communications Coordinator. Joining IAC in 2021, Kiersten is part of our Jeopardy alumni staff team, and helps with office duties and running regional tournaments around the country.
When not at work, she spends time with her family playing board games like Catan, attending comedy festivals in Montreal, and writing book reviews for novels while renovating her 200 year old house.
USA Operations Leadership
Joseph Cox - Director of Elementary and Middle School Competitions
Joseph joined IAC full time in 2022 and is the Director of EMS Operations. Prior to joining IAC full time, he worked tournaments as an assistant tournament director and still does work as a science content creator. Joseph came to IAC from the classroom, spending seven years as a high school science teacher and winning the Pinellas County Teachers Association Kraf-Custer Outstanding Educators Award in 2018.
In his free time Joseph enjoys playing piano, watching & reading Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and gaming both table top and video games. He is especially fond of Dungeons & Dragons and currently plays twice a month with his friends.
Marshall Mullins - Director of High School Competitions
Kevin Commo - Director of US Staff
Kevin has worked for IAC since 2019 and currently serves as Director of Staffing and Statistics after becoming a full-time part of the team in 2022. Kevin is also the tournament director of the Vermont-NEA Scholars’ Bowl and coach of the Burlington High School team, part of his involvement in the Vermont quiz bowl scene that dates back to his high school days in the 1990s.
Kevin previously worked in sports media at a local newspaper and an internet streaming company, he spends most of his free time fishing and kayaking the lakes and ponds of western Vermont.
USA Operations Staff
Audra Dankwardt - Tournament Coordinator
Sara Delvillano - Tournament Coordinator
Our music questions wouldn’t sing like they do without the help of Sara DelVillano. This Maryland based staffer is one of our High School Tournament Coordinators as well as a Tournament Director and question writer. One of our Jeopardy! alumni, Sara was a finalist in the 2019 Teachers Tournament, the winningest staffer amongst the alumni on staff save for the founder.
When not working for IAC, Sara can be found teaching music lessons, performing in wind ensembles on her clarinet, fostering dogs or playing in pub trivia and Learned League matches.
Jess Peña - Tournament Coordinator
One of our newest staff members, Jess joined IAC as an EMS Tournament Coordinator in 2022 after spending two years writing questions and assistant tournament directing. An AP US and World History teacher in Austin, Texas, Jess participates in pub trivia weekly with friends, and enjoys powerlifting, live music and anything outdoors in her spare time.
Ragavan Ramsubramani - Waitlist & Tournament Coordinator
USA & International Question Production
Scott Blish - Specialist
Scott Blish is another of our Jeopardy Alumni staffers. A jack-of-all trades, Scott utilizes his trivia knowledge and ten years of experience volunteering with another quiz bowl company to help run regional tournaments at the high school and EMS levels, as well as question writing and statistical work at Nationals. A former professional poker player, Scott spends his downtime with his family, playing in various online international trivia competitions, or watching cricket.
Abigail Ecal
Abigail began her career at IAC as a Junior Writer in December, 2021. Within four months, she was hired as a full-time Writer, then quickly promoted to Editor.
When Abigail is not working, she’s still “working.” As a self-proclaimed “information sponge,” she’s always looking to learn, whether from books, film, or everyday life. She is the co-president of her own book club and is always updating her Goodreads account. Her other hobbies include traveling, attending concerts, and training for the Olympics. Abigail is still figuring out in what sport, but she has convinced herself to be a pickleball phenom.
Jason Flowers
Jason Flowers is the Director of Exams for IAC and the 2023 Olympiad. Jason joined IAC in 2015 as a Team Leader for the US Geography Team and as the head writer for the US Geography Championships (USGC). Since then, he has helped to write the US History Bee and National Political Science Bee qualifying exams, all levels of USGC exams, National Championship Exams in history, and various exams and events for IHO and IGC. In addition to writing for IAC, Jason is the Quiz Bowl and History Bowl coach at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, TX, where his teams have won two National History Bowl titles and four quiz bowl national championships.
Jason Russell
McKinnie Sizemore
McKinnie became Associate Director of Question Production soon after working up from staffer to writer to editor. His work is key in the planning, crafting, and editing of our tournaments. He’s provided editorial direction and majority authorship for the Sports History, Sports and Entertainment, Pop Music, and Art History Bees and has guided new formats like Geographeud and Geopardy while working full-time on our regional, national, and international question sets. McKinnie’s passion for trivia took off in 2011, when he co-founded and led the quiz bowl program at his alma mater, UCF, and he’s been professionally editing, organizing, and writing for trivia and media outlets ever since. His experience and knowledge of what’s happening across the quiz world got him invited to be a play-tester for major network game shows, and you might have seen him as a contestant on Jeopardy!, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and The Chase. In his spare time, McKinnie is a player and team captain in numerous domestic and international quizzing leagues, holding multiple titles in subject-specific and general knowledge contests.