‘Jeopardy!’: 6 Things to Know About Adriana Harmeyer

Adriana Harmeyer continued her winning ways on Tuesday night’s (June 4) Jeopardy! as she clinched her fifth consecutive victory, cementing her spot in the next Tournament of Champions.

The archivist from West Lafayette, Indiana, came into the episode as a four-day champion, having amassed $91,800 in her previous appearances. Throughout the episode, Harmeyer held a comfortable lead over her opponents, Travis Kissire, a deputy public works director from Boise, Idaho, and Christina Paul, a foreign service officer from Davie, Florida.

Even though she didn’t find a single Daily Double, Harmeyer held onto her lead while her fellow contestants fumbled. She went on to win the episode with $24,400, taking her over the $100,000 mark, with a five-day total of $116,200.

Five wins guarantee a spot in the next Tournament of Champions, so fans will be seeing a lot more of Harmeyer. So, as her streak continues, here are six things you should know about the current champ.

She Previously Failed Twice to Get On the Show

Harmeyer is a long-time Jeopardy! fan and told the Herald-Dispatch that this was her third attempt to get on the show. After several auditions, she finally made it to the Alex Trebek Stage.

In preparation, Harmeyer said she “watched a lot of Jeopardy!,” as she “felt like that was gonna help me the most, just to see the kinds of questions, the way they structure the questions and to get the pacing of the show, because it’s really hard to study when they could just ask you about anything.”

She Works as a Clinical Assistant Professor & Archivist

Harmeyer currently works at Purdue University’s Archives and Special Collections Department, where she hosts workshops, guest lectures, consultations, and activity development with faculty across a variety of disciplines.

In terms of her own education, Harmeyer graduated from Spring Valley High School in 2006, went on to get a Bachelor’s degree from Marshall University in 2010, and Master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 2012.

She Was Obsessed With the Jeopardy! CD-ROM Game

During one of her appearances, Harmeyer told host Ken Jennings that she received the Jeopardy! CD-ROM game when she was 7 years old and played it so much she memorized every question and answer.

“The game had the same kind of categories as the show typically does, like history, literature, science, business and industry,” she said. “You wouldn’t expect a child to know about business and industry, but I could rattle it off as a kid.”

And the only reason she stopped playing it? The disc broke in half.

She is Married and Works With Her Husband

Harmeyer is married to Neal Harmeyer, per the former’s Facebook page. Not only are the couple enjoying married life together, but they also work together.

Neal serves as Associate Head of Archives and Special Collections at Purdue University and as a Clinical Associate Professor at Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies.

The pair has even contributed to a book named Purdue at 150: A Visual History of Student Life.

She Plans to Travel With the Money

While Harmeyer doesn’t yet have any “solid plans” of what she wants to do with her winnings, one thing she intends to do is travel more.

“I would like to travel,” she told the Herald-Dispatch after her first two wins, where she stood at $46,2000. “I’ve always wanted to do more traveling, but I don’t have any solid plans. I think I’m still getting used to the idea that this money is real.”

After topping more than $100,000 in winnings, Harmeyer can certainly do A LOT of traveling.

She Had to Keep Her TOC Qualification a Secret

Jeopardy! contestants are not allowed to spill secrets of how they did on the show, which was especially hard for Harmeyer, who won enough games to qualify for the next TOC.

“Keeping the secret is getting harder,” she told JCOnline.com. “No one was expecting me to say I was on Jeopardy! in the first place, but now that it’s airing, people want me to tell them how the episode goes.”

Thankfully, now that at least five episodes has aired, she no longer has to keep her TOC feat to herself.

It’s really exciting that I can now say that it’s confirmed that I am going to the tournament of champions… I don’t have to keep that secret anymore,” she shared.

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