NAU professor advances to ‘Jeopardy!’ semifinals
Marti Canipe, a Northern Arizona University assistant professor competing in the first Professors Tournament on “Jeopardy!”, is moving on to semi-finals after winning her first round last week.
All her episodes were filmed in one day last October, which means Canipe already knows the outcome of the semi-finals airing this Tuesday. This week, she was finally able to share her first win with her friends and family after keeping it a secret for several months.
“What I was most excited for last week was that I would finally not have to keep that secret,” she said. The hardest part was not being able to tell anyone that she was even on the show, as participants weren’t announced until recently.
Canipe won in the “Final Jeopardy” round by correctly answering “The term once used for Western North Africa is still used today in the name of a primate from that region.” She got it right with “Barbary.” The two other contestants got it wrong, and Canipe, with $13,400 in her “Jeopardy!’” bank advanced to the semi-finals.
The category was “Old Geographic Names” which played to her strength as an avid traveler. Because of her background, general science is one of her favorite categories. History, not so much, Canipe said, but as someone who reads a lot and has a good memory, she is competitive.
“I didn’t have any kind of training plan or regiment. I think it’s more a lifetime of being curious and loving to learn things.”
One reason she thinks she was able to do well is that as a lifelong teacher, she has cultivated an avid curiosity for knowledge of all kind.
“You can be super smart in one category and not be very successful in ‘Jeopardy!,’” she said. “If what you are a super expert on doesn’t show up, you won’t go far.”
Following her win, NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera tweeted his support for Canipe saying “all Lumberjacks proud of and rooting for her!”
Since winning, she has been busy responding to all the messages of support she received.
“It’s been really fun hearing from people from different parts of my life,” she said. “Before I was a college professor, I taught middle school science. I’ve gotten emails from — they’re fully grown adults now — but kids who were in my class in middle school a long time ago.”
She said the best part of competing was meeting other professors from across the country.
“They were just amazingly fun people. I really, really liked all of them,” she said.
The semifinals featuring Canipe will air on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on KTVK.