Frank Louis Neuhauser (September 29, 1913 – March 11, 2011) was an American patent lawyer and spelling bee champion, who won the first National Spelling Bee (now known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee ^[1]) in 1925 by successfully spelling the word " gladiolus". ^{[1] [2]} He was 11 years old when he won the spelling bee.

Early life

Neuhauser was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 29, 1913, to German American parents. ^[1] His father, a stonemason, worked on spelling with his son on weekends if the weather was bad. ^[1]

National Spelling Bee

Neuhauser defeated nine finalists on stage, who had been whittled down from approximately two million schoolchildren, ^[2] to win the first ever National Spelling Bee, held in Washington D.C. in June 1925. ^[1] He had prepared for the bee by copying the dictionary into a blank notebook. ^[2] Neuhauser, who was eleven years old at the time of the contest, met U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and was awarded five hundred dollars in gold pieces for his victory. ^[2] His hometown of Louisville, Kentucky gave Neuhauser a parade in his honor and presented him with bouquets of gladioli. ^{[1] [2]} His classmates and school also gave him a bicycle. ^[1] During his later life, Neuhauser often appeared as a guest of honor at more recent spelling bees. ^[1] He also appeared in the 2002 documentary film Spellbound. ^[2]

Education

Neuhauser went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Louisville in 1934. ^[2] He began working as a small appliance engineer for General Electric (GE), which offered to send him to law school in order to gain additional patent lawyers. ^[2] Neuhauser received his law degree from George Washington University in 1940. ^[2] Neuhauser enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. ^[2]

Later life and death

Following the end of World War II, Neuhauser returned to General Electric as a patent attorney. He worked for GE in Connecticut and New York City, before moving permanently to Maryland in the mid-1950s. ^[2] He remained on the staff of General Electric, and, among other things, was manager of GE's Washington Patent Operation, where he formally trained many patent attorneys, in a training program that had 16 prospective patent attorneys at a time. In 1978 he left GE to join Bernard Rothwell & Brown, a law firm based in Washington D.C. ^{[1] [2]}

Neuhauser formerly chaired the patent law divisions of both the District of Columbia Bar Association and the American Bar Association. ^[2] He was the former president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the former chairman of the National Council of Patent Law Associations. ^[2]

Neuhauser died from myelodysplastic syndrome at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 11, 2011, at the age of 97. ^[2] He was survived by his wife of 66 years, Mary Virginia Clark Neuhauser; four children – Linda, Frank, Charles and Alan; and five grandchildren. ^[1]

References