Warren Wilson College professor continues ‘JEOPARDY!’ run

Dr. Alisa Hove to appear in semifinal round of Professors Tournament

The Valley Echo
December 13, 2021

Warren Wilson College Professor Dr. Alisa Hove won the first round of the Jeopardy! Professors Tournament and will compete in the semifinals on Dec. 14. Courtesy photo

Who is Dr. Alisa Hove? 

If the answer is, “Warren Wilson College professor who advanced to the semifinal round of the first JEOPARDY! Professors Tournament,” then the question is the correct response. 

The chair of the Swannanoa college’s biology department and professor of botany will make her second appearance on the popular quiz show when it airs locally at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 14, on WLOS. 

Hove was one of 15 educators vying for the $100,000 grand prize and a spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions. 

She will face Dr. Marti Canipe, an elementary science education professor at Northern Arizona University and Dr. Hester Blum, an English professor at Penn State Universities, in the semifinal round. 

On Dec. 10, Hove competed against J.P. Allen, a professor of business and innovation at the University of San Francisco and Deborah Steinberger, an associate professor of French literature at the University of Delaware. Hove, whose specialty is biology, won Final Jeopardy on a British literature question. 

Hove ended the game with $20,000, compared to Allen with $14,799 and Steinberger with $9,800. The other two contestants earned “wild card” spots and will also advance to the semifinals.

“It was a truly amazing and remarkable moment that I’ll remember for a really long time. Jeopardy! is a game where one person wins, so to have the chance to go to the semifinals and know that my colleagues will also be going was a complete surprise and out of the blue,” Hove said. “I’m really excited to represent Warren Wilson College in the next round of the competition.”

The tournament is hosted by Mayim Bialik, an American actress known for her roles as Amy Farrah Fowler on “The Big Bang Theory,” Blossom Russo on “Blossom” and Kat on “Call Me Kat.”