No Question: Harvard Grad Wins $100K on Jeopardy!

Daniel F. Melia '66 took home $100,000 after winning the final round of Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions, which aired last Friday.

The former Quincy House resident's overall winnings, accrued from the five regular season shows he won in September and from the tournament, totalled $175,600.

Melia currently teaches rhetoric and Celtic languages at the University of California at Berkeley.

Although "biblical death penalties," "medieval best-sellers," and "word origins" were some of his strongest categories, a broad base of general knowledge was what helped him the most, Melia said.

Melia said he acquired much of this trivia knowledge in his days as a Harvard student. His work at the Fogg Museum as an undergraduate was particularly useful, he said.

"Virtually everything I learned about art history I learned from working in the Fogg Museum," Melia said.

Melia wore a lucky charm from his alma mater in each appearance on the show.

"In each [regular season] game I wore a Harvard tie," Melia said. "When I went back to the Tournament of Champions, I wore the same ties in the same order."

Melia concentrated in English as an undergraduate. He remained at Harvard until 1972, when he earned his Ph.D. in Celtic languages and Literature.

To qualify for the game show, Melia participated in a rigorous selection process.

Aspiring contestants first took a 50-question written test. All prospective players who answered at least 35 questions correctly participated in a mock game and were interviewed by the show's staff, according to Laine T. Sutten, promotions manager for the show.

"We look at how they did in the test, how they played the game and their personality," Sutten said. "From there they go into the [contestant] pool."

But making it to the contestant pool does not insure prospective players a spot on the show.

Of the 25,000 prospective contestants who audition for the show, more than enough qualify for the 400 slots available every season.

Contestants for each show are ultimately randomly selected by a computer.

To make it to the Tournament of Champions, contestants must win at least four regular shows.

Despite his impressive showing, Melia said he did little to prepare for the tournament.

"Just a lifetime of collecting trivia is about all you can do," Melia said.

Melia did do some studying to brush up on his knowledge of popular culture after being notified in December that the show had changed its format to stress the topic.

"I started watching Wheel of Fortune and MTV and reading `People' magazine," Melee said. "I was afraid I would have to name the entire Brady Bunch."