Dr. Alisa Hove, professor of botany and chair of the biology department at Warren Wilson College, won the first round of the Jeopardy! professors tournament and is advancing to the semifinals.

The professors tournament is the first-of-its-kind on Jeopardy! Fifteen elite educators are facing off for a $100,000 grand prize and a spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions.

Hove will compete in the semifinals on Tuesday, December 14 against Dr. Marti Canipe, an elementary science education professor at Northern Arizona University and Dr. Hester Blum, an English professor at Penn State University.

On December 10 Hove competed against J.P. Allen, a professor of business and innovation at the University of San Francisco and Deborah Steinberger, an associate professor of French literature at the University of Delaware. Hove, whose specialty is biology, won Final Jeopardy on a British literature question.

Hove ended the game with $20,000, compared to Allen with $14,799 and Steinberger with $9,800. The other two contestants earned “wild card” spots and will also advance to the semifinals.

“It was a truly amazing and remarkable moment that I’ll remember for a really long time. Jeopardy! is a game where one person wins, and so to have the chance to go to the semifinals and know that my colleagues will also be going was a complete surprise and out of the blue,” Hove said. “I’m really excited to represent Warren Wilson College in the next round of the competition.”

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.”

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