Dr. Alisa Hove, professor of botany and chair of the biology department at Warren Wilson College, will compete in the first-ever JEOPARDY! Professors Tournament.

Hove will be one of 15 instructors from colleges and universities across the country who will face the ultimate test in higher education when they step away from their classrooms and onto the JEOPARDY! stage. These elite educators will compete for a $100,000 grand prize and a spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions. 

The tournament begins Monday, December 6 and airs on consecutive weeknights until a champion is crowned on Friday, December 17, with Hove premiering on Friday, December 10.

“I’ve loved JEOPARDY! since watching it with my family almost every night as a kid,” Hove said. “So having the opportunity to stand on that stage, see the questions in person,  and participate with such a talented group of professors was a kind of a dream come true.”

Hove will compete against Dr. J.P. Allen, professor of business and innovation at the University of San Francisco and Dr. Deborah Steinberger, associate professor of French literature at the University of Delaware.

The tournament is hosted by Mayim Bialik, an American actress known for her roles as Amy Farrah Fowler on “The Big Bang Theory,” Blossom Russo on “Blossom” and Kat on “Call Me Kat.” 

“It was an unbelievable thrill to see so many brilliant professors from all kinds of schools and backgrounds come together on the JEOPARDY! stage,” Bialik said about the tournament. “There was a sense of kinship and academic camaraderie among the group, along with a healthy dose of competitiveness. That energy made this inaugural Professors Tournament incredibly special.”

The full roster of competitors is as follows:

J.P. Allen, a Professor of Business at the University of San Francisco in San Francisco, Calif.

Hester Blum, a Professor of English at Penn State University in University Park, Pa.

Sam Buttrey, an Associate Professor of Operations Research at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Marti Canipe, a Professor of Elementary Science at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Lisa Dresner, an Associate Professor of Writing at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

Ramón Guerra, an Associate Professor of English, Literature, and Latino Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in Omaha, Neb.

Gautam Hans, an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tenn.

John Harkless, an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Ed Hashima, a Professor of History at American River College in Sacramento, Calif.

Gary Hollis, a Professor of Chemistry at Roanoke College in Salem, Va.

Alisa Hove, a Professor of Botany at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C.

Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders, an Assistant Professor of U.S. and African American History at University of Colorado-Boulder in Boulder, Colo.

Katie Reed, an Associate Professor of Musicology at California State University Fullerton in Fullerton, Calif.

Deborah Steinberger, an Associate Professor of French Literature at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del.

Julia Williams, a Professor of English at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind.

 

For more information, please visit jeopardy.com/contestant-zone/2021/professors-tournament. Check local listings for show times and stations.