Ken Jennings

Extracted Attributes

• Parents

  Kenneth Wayne Jennings, Jr. (father), Catherine Jennings (mother)

• Nickname

  The Professor (on The Chase), The Trivia Legend

• Full Name

  Kenneth Wayne Jennings III

• Alma Mater

  Brigham Young University (BA, BS in English and Computer Science)

• Nationality

  American

• Occupations

  Game show host, former contestant, author, podcaster, computer programmer

• Date of Birth

  1974-05-23

• Notable Books

  Brainiac, Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac, Maphead, Because I Said So!, Junior Genius Guides series

• Place of Birth

  Edmonds, Washington, United States

• Notable Podcast

  Omnibus

• Childhood Residence

  South Korea, Singapore (11-15 years)

• Jeopardy! Total Earnings

  $4,522,700

• Jeopardy! Longest Winning Streak

  74 consecutive wins

• Jeopardy! Initial Streak Earnings

  $2,522,700

• Jeopardy! Highest Average Correct Responses per Game (Overall)

  33.1

• Jeopardy! Highest Average Correct Responses per Game (Original Run)

  35.9

Timeline

• Born Kenneth Wayne Jennings III in Edmonds, Washington, U.S. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Wikidata)

  1974-05-23

• Graduated from Brigham Young University with degrees in English and Computer Science. (Source: Wikipedia, Web Search)

  2000-XX-XX

• Began his record-breaking 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy!, earning $2,522,700. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  2004-XX-XX

• Finished second in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, winning $500,000. (Source: DBPedia)

  2005-XX-XX

• Published his best-selling book, 'Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs'. (Source: DBPedia, Web Search)

  2006-XX-XX

• Appeared on 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?', temporarily regaining the title of highest-earning American game show contestant. (Source: DBPedia)

  2008-10-XX

• Finished second in the Jeopardy! IBM Challenge against the Watson computer, winning $300,000. (Source: DBPedia)

  2011-XX-XX

• Finished second in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades, winning $100,000. (Source: DBPedia)

  2014-XX-XX

• Finished second (as part of a team) in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games, winning $100,000. (Source: DBPedia)

  2019-XX-XX

• Won Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament, earning $1,000,000 and regaining the highest-earning American game show contestant record. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  2020-XX-XX

• Signed on as a consulting producer for Jeopardy!, including an on-air role. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, DBPedia)

  2020-09-XX

• Began his tenure as the first guest host of Jeopardy! following Alex Trebek's death. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Web Search)

  2021-01-11

• Concluded his initial run as guest host of Jeopardy!. (Source: Wikipedia, Web Search)

  2021-02-19

• Began alternating hosting duties for Jeopardy! with Mayim Bialik for Season 38. (Source: Web Search)

  2021-09-20

• Officially announced as co-host of Jeopardy! alongside Mayim Bialik. (Source: Web Search)

  2022-07-27

• Became the sole permanent host of Jeopardy! after Mayim Bialik stepped down. (Source: Summary, Web Search)

  2023-12-15

• Hosted Celebrity Jeopardy! where David Friedberg appeared. (Source: Related Document d91523b3-5ae3-4570-85fa-18e95963d97e)

  XXXX-XX-XX

Ken Jennings

Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, former contestant, and author. He is best known for his success and streak on the syndicated quiz show Jeopardy! as a contestant and later its host. Jennings was born in Edmonds, Washington, but grew up in South Korea and Singapore. He worked as a computer programmer before he tried out for Jeopardy! in 2004. During his initial run, Jennings secured a consecutive 74 wins, setting the record as the highest-earning American game show contestant (a title he held for more than twenty years) and bringing significant media attention and viewership. Afterwards, Jennings pursued a career as an author, writing about his experience and exploring American trivia history and culture in a series of best-selling books. He also appeared on other game shows, including The Chase (where he sported the nickname "The Professor"), and hosted the Omnibus podcast. He returned to Jeopardy! in 2020 as a producer, and later guest-hosted the program after the death of host Alex Trebek the same year. He split full-time hosting duties initially with actress Mayim Bialik until 2023, when he was made the sole host. Jennings holds numerous game show records: he is the second highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different programs, including a cumulative total of $4,522,700 on Jeopardy! His original appearance on the program marks the longest winning streak, netting him $2,522,700 over the course of his initial 75-day run. He also holds the record for the highest average correct responses per game. Additionally, Jennings was awarded the first-place prize in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (2020).

Web Search Results

• Ken Jennings - Wikipedia

  Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, former contestant, and author. He is best known for his success and streak on the syndicated quiz show Jeopardy! as a contestant and later its host. Jennings was born in Edmonds, Washington "Washington (state)"), but grew up in South Korea and Singapore. He worked as a computer programmer before he tried out for Jeopardy! in 2004. During his initial run, Jennings secured a consecutive 74 wins, setting the record as [...] | Ken Jennings | | | --- | --- | | Jennings in 2007 | | | Born | Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (1974-05-23) May 23, 1974 (age 51) Edmonds, Washington, U.S. | | Alma mater | Brigham Young University (BA, BS) | | Occupations | Game show contestant game show host author podcaster | | Years active | 2003–present | [...] Kenneth Wayne Jennings III was born on May 23, 1974, in Edmonds, Washington, a city located immediately outside of Seattle. His father was an international lawyer and moved the family to South Korea when Ken was in the first grade. His mother was a school teacher and worked for the Department of Defense in that capacity overseas. Jennings grew up viewing Jeopardy! on the American Forces Network. Jennings spent 11 years living in Korea and Singapore; he graduated from the Seoul Foreign School.

• Ken Jennings | Game Shows Wiki - Fandom

  Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (also known as The Professor or The Trivia Legend) (born on May 23, 1974) is a game show contestant and host. He is most notable for his record-setting streak of 74 wins on Jeopardy!. He then became the first and longest-running (at six weeks) of the guest hosts of the show following the death of Alex Trebek. After Mike Richards stepped down after a week as the permanent host amid controversy, Ken Jennings became the host of Jeopardy!, sharing duties with Mayim [...] # Ken Jennings | Ken Jennings | | | --- | --- | | | | | Name: | Kenneth Wayne Jennings III | | Born: | May 23, 1974 | | Birth Hometown: | Edmonds, Washington | | Occupation: | Host, Contestant, Author | | Years active: | 2004-present | | Known for: | Appearances on Jeopardy! Hosting Jeopardy! | [...] ## Contents ## Jeopardy![] ### Contestant Activity[] ### Host Activity[] On November 24, 2020, it was announced that Ken Jennings would be one of the guest hosts of Jeopardy! following Alex's death; his first episode as guest host aired January 11, 2021, and his last one aired February 19, 2021. After working as a special host, he revealed that he did not want to be a regular host.

• Ken Jennings | Jeopardy! History Wiki - Fandom

  # Ken Jennings Eaa48eee3d5e601369fd27ca19bdf8b7 Ken Jennings at ABC Television's Winter Press Tour 2020 Kenneth Wayne “The Professor” Jennings III (b. May 23, 1974) is an author and software engineer. He is best known for winning 74 consecutive games on Jeopardy!, where he accumulated $2,522,700. [...] Ken Jennings joined the Jeopardy! staff as a consulting producer during the show's 37th season and provided video clues in some episodes during the Trebek-hosted portion of said season. Shortly after the death of longtime host Alex Trebek, Jennings served as the first of several guest hosts to finish off the season. His episodes aired from January 11 to February 19, 2021. [...] On September 20, 2021, following Mike Richards stepping down as host, Ken Jennings began alternating with Mayim Bialik as host and will do so for the rest of season 38. On July 27, 2022, it was announced that he will officially be the show's new co-host along with Bialik. However, on December 15, 2023, Bialik stepped down due to the SAG-AFTRA protests and dislike from fans, and he is currently the sole permanent host. ## Trivia[] ## Fandom logo Fandom logo ### Explore properties

• Ken Jennings | Jeopardy! Winning Streak, Hosting, & Facts | Britannica

  # Ken Jennings Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. This BYU graduate and software engineer won a record 74 consecutive Jeopardy! matches before going on to become one of the game show’s hosts in 2021. Who is Ken Jennings? Or more precisely, Kenneth Wayne Jennings III, born May 23, 1974, in Edmonds, Washington. ## The makings of a Jeopardy! nerd [...] Jennings is the oldest of four children born to attorney Kenneth Wayne Jennings, Jr., and elementary-school librarian Catherine Jennings. In a 2023 interview with Encyclopædia Britannica, Jennings described his parents as “bright people, big readers, fast talkers” and himself as “a weird information sponge” as a kid. He was obsessed with reading reference books, including The Guinness Book of World Records, encyclopedias, and atlases. “[The] library would never let you take home the books I [...] Jennings, who was raised in a devout Mormon family, attended college at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle and Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah. He served a two-year religious mission in Madrid between attending UW and BYU. He graduated from BYU in 2000 after majoring in English and computer science. But it was a flyer for the college quiz bowl team that changed his life. As he got more involved in quiz bowl, traveling to tournaments around the country, he began to recognize

• About Ken - Ken Jennings

  # About Ken Ken Jennings was born in 1974 just outside Seattle, Washington, but grew up overseas. His family spent fifteen years in Korea and Singapore, where his father worked as an attorney. His only lifeline to American pop culture during those years was TV on the Armed Forces Network, where he watched Jeopardy! religiously after school every afternoon. [...] The streak made Ken Jennings a 2004 TV folk hero, and he appeared as a guest on shows from The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman to Live with Regis and Kelly and Sesame Street. Barbara Walters named him one of the ten most fascinating people of the year. The Christian Science Monitor called him "the king of Trivia Nation" and Slate magazine dubbed him "the Michael Jordan of trivia, the Seabiscuit of geekdom." ESPN: The Magazine called him "smarmy (and) punchable," with "the [...] After his Jeopardy! streak ended, Ken became a best-selling author. His books include Brainiac, about the phenomenon of trivia in American culture, Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac, the biggest American trivia book ever assembled, Maphead, about his lifelong love of geography, and Because I Said So!, debunking parenting cliches. For children, he wrote a series of Junior Genius Guides full of fun projects and amazing facts.

• Image

  

• Gender

  male

• Educated At

  Brigham Young University

• Instance Of

  Q5

• Occupation

  writer

• Citizenship

  United States

• Date Of Birth

  5/23/1974

• Notable Work

  Omnibus

• Place Of Birth

  Edmonds

Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show contestant turned host and author. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,700 on the U.S. game show Jeopardy! which he currently hosts, sharing duties with Mayim Bialik. He holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! with 74 consecutive wins. He also holds the record for the highest average correct responses per game in Jeopardy! history (for those contestants with at least 300 correct responses) with 35.9 during his original run (no other contestant has exceeded 30) and 33.1 overall, including tournaments and special events. In 2004, he won 74 consecutive Jeopardy! games before he was defeated by challenger Nancy Zerg on his 75th appearance. His total earnings on Jeopardy! are $4,522,700, consisting of: $2,520,700 over his 74 wins; a $2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance; a $500,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions (2005); a $300,000 second-place prize in Jeopardy!'s IBM Challenge (2011), when he lost to the Watson computer but became the first person to beat third-place finisher Brad Rutter; a $100,000 second-place prize in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades (2014); a $100,000 second-place prize (his share of his team's $300,000 prize) in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games (2019); and a $1 million first-place prize in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (2020). During his first run of Jeopardy! appearances, Jennings earned the record for the highest American game show winnings. His total was surpassed by Rutter, who defeated Jennings in the finals of the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, adding $2 million to Rutter's existing Jeopardy! winnings. Jennings regained the record after appearing on several other game shows, culminating with his results on an October 2008 appearance on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, though Rutter retained the record for highest Jeopardy! winnings and once again passed Jennings' total after his victory in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament. In 2020, he once again faced off with and won against Rutter, as well as James Holzhauer, in a special primetime series, Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time. After his success on Jeopardy!, Jennings wrote about his experience and explored American trivia history and culture in his book Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs, published in 2006. In September 2020, he signed on as a consulting producer of Jeopardy!, a job that will include an on-air role reading categories. He held this role until the start of the show's thirty-ninth season. Following Alex Trebek's death on November 8, 2020, Jennings hosted Jeopardy! as the first of a series of guest hosts. His episodes aired from January 11, 2021, to February 19, 2021. Following Mike Richards' exit early in the 2021–22 season, Jennings and Mayim Bialik were both named hosts; Jennings’ hosting duties are exclusive to the daily syndicated series (Bialik hosts syndicated series episodes as well as primetime network specials). Jennings will continue to split hosting duties with Bialik for the 39th season of the series.