Staff

The staff of the 2023 International History Olympiad will be announced on a rolling basis throughout 2023. If you are interested in joining the staff of the 2023 Olympiad, please complete the staff application form. Please direct any other questions regarding Olympiad staffing to Arthur Ramsay (arthur@iacompetitions.com).

David Madden
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director

David Madden is the co-founder and co-Executive Director of International Academic Competitions and the International History Olympiad. He began his involvement in academic competitions in the 1990’s playing quiz bowl for Ridgewood High School and Princeton University. In 2003, David received a Rotary scholarship to pursue a master’s in international relations at the Free University of Berlin. During his stay in Berlin, he appeared as a contestant on the American quiz show Jeopardy! winning 19 games in a row. He also participated in the Jeopardy! All Star Games tournament in early 2019 which he and his teammates won. While taking coursework to become a history teacher, he established the National History Bee and Bowl in June 2010. This quickly became a full-time position in its own right, particularly as in the 2011-2012 academic year, the International History Bee and Bowl were launched in Europe and Asia. These competitions, and many others, including the International History Olympiad, are now organized under the aegis of International Academic Competitions. As of 2023, over 100,000 students in over 50 countries compete in IAC events each school year. David is also a published art historian, an Ambassador with the Rainforest Alliance, and once hiked the entire length of the US east coast for the Fisher House Foundation, a veterans charity. He enjoys running, skiing, baking chocolate chip cookies, and playing with IAC’s mascots Apple and Maui (two cheeky parakeets).

Nolwenn Madden
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director

Nolwenn Madden is the co-Executive Director of International Academic Competitions and the co-founder of the International History Olympiad. 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 Microsoft and booking.com before launching the International History Bee and Bowl in 2011. She and David were co-coaches for the first team from the USA to attend the International Geography Olympiad in Kyoto, Japan in the summer of 2013. This indirectly led to the idea for the first International History Olympiad two years later. She has organized and directed hundreds of tournaments for IAC throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and oversees organizational strategy and outreach for IAC. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the ukulele, which she began playing at the 2016 International History Olympiad in Honolulu. She also enjoys skiing and goofing around with Apple and Maui, as well playing the cello, baking delicious French desserts, and traveling.

Arthur W. Ramsay
Director

Arthur Ramsay is the Senior Director of Summer Programs for International Academic Competitions and Director of the 2023 International History Olympiad. Based at IAC World Headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, he directs tournaments and works to expand the global impact of IAC. Arthur joined IAC in January 2018 after earning his BA in American History and Government from the SUNY Empire State College. Arthur previously worked for the State University of New York System Administration and interned with the New York State Assembly. An alumnus of the National History Bee and Bowl, Arthur has attended all twelve NHBB National Championship tournaments, as a player, moderator, off-site captain, staff director, and most recently, as tournament director. In his free time, Arthur enjoys reading and casual trivia, and has been a summer camp counselor at Long Island’s Camp HorseAbility since 2011.

William Tippins
Associate Director

William Tippins is the European Regional Director for International Academic Competitions and will be serving as the Associate Director of the 2023 International History Olympiad in Rome. Based in London, he directs tournaments, builds and maintains connections with European schools, and is overseeing the transition of the European division to a new competition model. William joined IAC in 2017 immediately after finishing his IB diploma at St. Stephen’s School, the host of this summer’s Olympiad; he previously competed in four European tournaments as part of his school’s team. Despite having a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and an MSc in Dementia Research, history has always been his greatest passion and the reason he first got involved in both competing and later directing IHBB events. When he’s not running or planning events, William maintains his hobbies in writing fiction and non-fiction, gaming, participating in pub quizzes, and being an active member of London’s large LGBT community.