O’Mara, Palmesano Honoring National Spelling Bee Co-Champ Sriram Hathwar In Albany On Tuesday

Painted Post 14-year-old will be at the Capitol for Senate and Assembly tributes

Albany, N.Y., June 10— State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats) and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano will pay tribute to Sriram Hathwar of Painted Post, this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee co-champion, at the State Capitol today.

O’Mara and Palmesano are sponsoring a Joint Legislative Resolution honoring Hathwar’s achievement, which will be presented to all of the members of the State Legislature during today’s Senate and Assembly sessions. Hathwar will be recognized in person by each legislative house.

The O’Mara-Palmesano resolution reads, in part, “Sriram Hathwar, in achieving this high honor, may take just pride in the inspiration and contribution to the spirit of excellence he brings to his family, friends, school and region...His achievement stands as a testament to his abilities, his perseverance and his commitment to success – all of which signal a bright future.”

Hathwar is the son of Jagadeesh and Roopa Hathwar, who are both physicians in Corning. He’s an eight-grader at Corning’s Alternative School for Math and Science. His parents, his brother Jairam, his grandmother Bhageerathi, who traveled from India to attend the Spelling Bee, and friend Cynthia Adler will join him in Albany on Tuesday.

The Corning Rotary Club sponsored Hathwar for this year’s competition.

“We’re grateful to have this opportunity to pay tribute to Sriram’s championship,” O’Mara and Palmesano said in a joint statement. “It’s a fantastic achievement by an outstanding young man with a truly bright future. It’s a great story, and we’re proud to help celebrate it.”

Hathwar, 14, was the co-winner of the 87th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, May 29, 2014 in National Harbor, Maryland. He shared this year’s top prize with 13-year-old Ansun Sujoe of Forth Worth, Texas. It was the first time in 52 years that there were co-champions of the event.

It was also the fifth time that Hathwar has participated in the National Spelling Bee. In 2008, as an eight–year-old second-grader, he was at that time the Bee’s youngest-ever competitor. He finished third last year.

Hathwar is the first champion from upstate New York since 1976 when Tom Kneale of Syracuse was the champion.

Tuesday’s Senate session is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. It can be viewed online through O’Mara’s website at http://www.omara.nysenate.gov.

Tomorrow’s Assembly session begins at 10:00 a.m. It can be viewed online at http://assembly.state.ny.us/av/.