Bradley Whitmarsh loves to solve puzzles. One of his favorite things about working as the assistant director of computer services at Northeastern Law is helping people to troubleshoot technical issues. “Somebody comes to you with a problem, and your job is to solve it. So you think, These are the ideas I have, and this is the most likely explanation. So I’ll try this first, and if that won’t fix it, do I know who to contact to get it fixed?”

Whitmarsh brings his problem-solving skills to Scrabble, and that’s been a winning strategy for the Northeastern graduate and 25-year employee. He has played competitively since 2006 and is ranked among the top 100 Scrabble players in the country. It’s a pastime that has taken him all over the world for hundreds of tournaments, making stops in the US, Canada and the UK. But if he had to pick the most exciting country he’s ever played in, it would be Poland. “Warsaw was a different world,” he says. “It was cool walking around the city by myself and thinking, I’m halfway around the world.”

In October, Whitmarsh placed third at the 2024 Lake George Scrabble Tournament. Two months later, he came in first at the California Open Scrabble Tournament in San Francisco. “I lost three of my first four games and thought I was out of it. Then I went 14-2 the rest of the way and ended up in first place,” said Whitmarsh. “I’m glad I didn’t get too discouraged after the rough start and that I kept trying to play well and win games.”