Medical School Student Wins $60K on Jeopardy! Tourney

Buzzers. Alex Trebek. Double Jeopardy. Harvard Medical School student Wes Ulm knows it all. A first-year student, Ulm competed in the quarterfinals of the television show Jeopardy! during its annual Tournament of Champions, which aired Feb. 6.

Although Ulm did not advance to the semi-final round, his Jeopardy! winnings from five victorious matches total $63,201.

"It's basically sitting around waiting to pay the bills," Ulm said.

The top 15 money winners of each season face each other at the Tournament to compete for a $100,000 prize. In addition to Ulm, this year's group of "Champions" includes two other Harvard affiliates: Dan F. Melia '66, who advanced to the final round, and Arthur M. Philips '90, who lost in quarterfinals.

Ulm was the youngest competitor aside from the college and high school tournament champions who automatically win a berth to the Tournament of Champions. The competitors faced off Jan. 13 and 14 at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif.

Ulm attributed his quarterfinal loss to the show's change in emphasis.

"A new producer took over in the summer. The focus is now more on popular culture rather than academic subjects," Ulm said. "Being a student at a medical school, this tournament was a little out of my reach."

Breaking away from traditional Jeopardy! topics like World Geography, Shakespeare, and American History, which Ulm said he had mastered, the quarterfinals presented him with categories such as Pets and Celebrity Quotes.

"You really couldn't study for them," said the Harvard medical student.

"They were just things you would have had to run into--life experience," added Ulm, who first appeared on Jeopardy! on June 4, 1997.

Quiz shows have been a part of Ulm's life since the sixth grade.

"I was involved in a local TV show called 'Academic Pursuits,' and in high school, competed on 'It's Academic,'" Ulm said.

"The material on 'It's Academic' was really hard. My experience there helped prepare me for the tough questions on Jeopardy," he added.

In college, Ulm was the captain of Duke University's Quiz Bowl Team, which advanced to Nationals during his time there.

"It takes a strange love of useless knowledge [to compete in quiz shows], but in the process of preparing~ for competitions, I've learned a whole lot of material in subjects that I would have passed by in college," Ulm said.

"It's given me a liberal arts education."

In order to become a contestant on Jeopardy!, candidates must pass a written exam. Then, "they play a mock Jeopardy! game and participate in a brief interview," Laine T. Sutten, spokesperson for Jeopardy! told The Crimson in December.

"What we want is someone who looks like they're having fun," she said.

"About 400 contestants are chosen from about 25,000 people who audition each year."

Ulm said he hopes to be invited back as a guest on Jeopardy! "Once you compete and win, you can't try anymore as a regular contestant," he said.

"I've gotten to meet so many amazing people with different perspectives," he added. "I've even made some e-mail penpals."

Another Harvard student, J.J. Todor '95, currently a third-year at Harvard Law School, was selected to be on a regular Jeopardy! show which will air on Feb. 17.