Dean Zach ‘24 walked away with $39,000 in Jeopardy! winnings last week after a two-game stint on the show. Zach, of Pearland, Texas, became only the fourth person in the game’s history to double his money on back-to-back daily Daily Doubles, and the first person to do so in regular-season play, per Y! Entertainment.
Zach earned his bachelor of arts in English language and literature at Trinity and is pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Houston. He is also a copy editor for the San Antonio Current. During his two games, Jeopardy! nerds (redundant?) gave Zach the nickname “Dean the Machine” in online forums. He came storming into his first game with an aggressive Daily Double strategy, cruising to a runaway victory with $36,000. In his second game, Zach thrilled fans by back-to-back True Daily Doubles to erase a huge deficit, but ultimately lost to Matthew Riggle, a community college math instructor from Madison, Alabama.
So what does it take to win on America’s biggest trivia stage? Knowledge across a variety of disciplines and the ability to think on your feet–qualities English associate professor Kelly Grey Carlisle, Ph.D., says she remembers Dean displaying in her advanced non-fiction writing course. “In our many conversations about his work, it became clear that he was intellectually curious, incredibly thoughtful, and a voracious reader,” says Carlisle. “Trinity is exactly the place to nurture a mind like Dean's and Dean is exactly the kind of student we love to teach in our classes.”