Odyssey of the Mind
| Founded | 1978 |
|---|---|
| Founder | C. Samuel Micklus Theodore Gourley |
| Type | Creative problem-solving competition |
| Focus | Creativity and Problem Solving |
| Origins | Glassboro State College, New Jersey |
Area served | USA and 24+ other countries |
Key people | "Dr. Sam" (C. Samuel Micklus) |
| Website | http://www.odysseyofthemind.com |
Odyssey of the Mind, abbreviated OM or OotM, is a creative problem-solving program where team members present their solution at a competition to a predefined long-term problem that takes many months to complete and involves writing, design, construction, and theatrical performance. A spontaneous portion of the competition has the team also generate solutions to a problem they have not seen before.
The program is now international, with teams from Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Canada, China, Czech Republic, DODDS, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland, Togo, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan, regularly competing in addition to teams from the United States.
Odyssey of the Mind is a trademark of Creative Competitions. Competitions are administered by a mixture of regional non-profit associations and the for-profit Creative Competitions corporation.