Indian-American Dhruv Gaur wins ‘Jeopardy!’ College Champion and $100,000 Grand Prize

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Dhruv Gaur, a freshman at Brown University in Providence, R.I., won the JEOPARDY! College Championship today (April 20) , claiming the $100,000 grand prize and earning a berth in the next edition of the JEOPARDY! Tournament of Champions. William Scott, a freshman at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., finished in second place and took home $50,000, while Hannah Sage, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla., came in third and collected $25,000.

“Nobody can really walk into a competition like this with 14 other incredibly talented and brilliant students and immediately expect to win it all, I know I certainly didn’t,” Gaur is quoted saying in a press release from the widely-watched game show, after his win. “The idea of winning the whole tournament didn’t even cross my mind until somewhere during the first game of the finals. I was really just trying to take it one step at a time,” Gaur added.

Gaur, who is originally from Gainesville, Ga., and is studying public health and economics at Brown, said he’s not yet sure how he will spend his $100,000 grand prize.

“It’s kind of boring, but since I’m not entirely sure what the future holds, I’m just going to save it until I need it for grad school or to pursue an opportunity I might really want in the future,” Gaur said. “My little brother is really interested in investing, so I’ll give him some so he can give the stock market a go, and I promised my friends I’d take them out to dinner, but the vast majority is being saved for later.”

Gaur said that the personal relationships he forged during the competition were the highlight of his participation in the JEOPARDY! College Championship.

Second place finisher William Scott, who plans to major in computer science and quantitative economics at Tufts, called it  “surreal” to have performed so well in the tournament.

“JEOPARDY! somehow manages to select a group of some of the most kind, funny, intelligent, and interesting people I’ve ever met,” Scott said. “As for Dhruv and Hannah, we of course had some healthy competition during the finals, but Hannah and I were both really happy for Dhruv after his win.”

Hannah Sage, who came in third, indicated she exceeded her own expectations when she made it into the tournament finals. Sage said it felt “wonderful” to represent the University of Central Florida, where she is pursuing a degree in mathematics with a concentration in mathematical biology and a minor in art history.

JEOPARDY!, America’s Favorite Quiz Show®, the press release said. Its host, Alex Trebek, has been hosting it for 34^th seasons in syndication. With 23 million viewers each week, it is considered the top-rated quiz show on television, and has won several awards and distinctions over the course of its 30+ years on the air, including the 2017 Emmy for Outstanding Game Show. The show holds a Guinness World Records® record for the most Emmy® Awards won by a TV game show (34 Emmys); it is also the recipient of a 2011 Peabody Award. JEOPARDY! is produced by Sony Pictures Television, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company; it is distributed domestically by CBS Television.