Alex J. Cameron (1937 – February 24, 2003) was an English professor at the University of Dayton and the official pronouncer of the Scripps National Spelling Bee from 1980 to 2002.Cameron grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, and attended the University of Notre Dame. He taught American literature and the history of the English language at the University of Dayton from 1964 until his death in 2003. In 1978, he began accompanying fellow Dayton professor Richard Baker to the National Spelling Bee, where Baker had served as official pronouncer since the 1950s. After Baker retired in 1979, spelling bee officials asked Cameron to take his place.Cameron, who had begun reading the dictionary as a third-grader, annually prepared for the spelling bee at his sister's house in Dearborn, where he would pronounce words six hours a day for two weeks in May. National Spelling Bee director Paige Kimble said that Cameron had "a rich voice" and "could relate genuinely and positively with children of all different backgrounds and demeanors."In February 2003, Cameron died of an apparent heart attack in his Kettering, Ohio, home. He was 65 years old. Reportedly, he had been reading a book when he died. Jacques Bailly succeeded him as the National Spelling Bee's pronouncer.
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