Jeopardy ‘GOAT’ to speak at DePauw

GREENCASTLE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — The man who won the “Greatest of All Time” title on the long-running television game show Jeopardy! will be in Indiana on Tuesday. Ken Jennings will speak at DePauw University as part of the Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture Series.

Jennings will give his speech, “Winning Where It Matters Most,” and participate in a Q&A session during which audience members can try and stump Jennings with a trivia question of their own. The event will take place at the Green Center for the Performing Arts, located inside Kresge Auditorium on the Greencastle campus.

Jennings defeated fellow Jeopardy! champions James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter last month to win $1 million and the title of Greatest Player of All Time. He is the winningest contestant in the show’s 56-year history with earnings totaling more than $4.5 million. He also holds the record for the longest winning streak on the show at 74 consecutive games.

“It is a real honor to be associated with a show that nobody ever has a bad thing to say about,” Jennings said. “It encourages learning, it makes smart kids feel like it’s okay to be smart and that’s always the kind of kid I was.”

The lecture is free and open to the public. The university says seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis and no tickets are being distributed.

The event will be the second of three Ubben Lectures in the 2019-2020 academic year at DePauw. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice spoke at the university in October and current Boston Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens, a DePauw graduate, will give a lecture next month.

The Ubben Lecture Series was established in 1986 and has seen a large number of high-profile speakers, including Margaret Thatcher, Spike Lee, General Colin Powell, Ken Burns, Bill Clinton and Harry Belafonte.