‘Who is Ilene Morgan?’

Dr. Ilene Morgan was featured on the quiz show Jeopardy!
Dr. Ilene Morgan was featured on the quiz show Jeopardy! Photo by B.A. Rupert, Missouri S&T.

If “third time’s a charm” were a category on the quiz show Jeopardy!, then “Who is Dr. Ilene Morgan?” might be one of the answers. The clue might go like this:“This Missouri S&T faculty member tried twice to land a spot on this program before finally succeeding in 2012.” A longtime trivia buff and a Jeopardy! fan since childhood, Morgan made her Jeopardy! debut on the March 5, 2013, episode of the show. The associate professor of mathematics and statistics described the experience as “bucket-list awesome,” and added that recording the program before a studio audience didn’t bother her. “I was not thinking about the audience, or the camera, or the money,” Morgan said. “I was just playing trivia, and I was having fun.”

Morgan, who is now retired from S&T, loves to play trivia. “I have a brain like flypaper,” she said. “Random things will kind of stick to it.” But success on Jeopardy!, as with trivia games, is “more about being knowledgeable” about a variety of things than it is about intelligence, Morgan said. “It’s not that trivia is useful, but there’s a sense that everybody can watch Jeopardy! and, when you get a question that everybody misses, you can say to yourself, ‘Ha! I could be on Jeopardy!’”

Share This Story

Spark a Memory?

Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).

Using glass to treat cancer

Using glass to treat cancer

An expert in developing specialty glasses for use in health care, transportation infrastructure and other applications, Delbert Day is known…

First woman department chair

First woman department chair

In 1990, Dr. Elizabeth Cummins was named chair of Missouri S&T’s English department. She joined S&T as an instructor in…

Clued in on Jeopardy!

Clued in on Jeopardy!

This Missouri S&T professor of foreign languages was once a clue on the popular TV game show Jeopardy! If you…

Pam (Thebeau) and Dennis Leitterman

Pam (Thebeau) and Dennis Leitterman

Although both Pam (Thebeau) and Dennis Leitterman started as freshmen in fall 1971, they didn’t meet until August 1975. “I…

Erica (Walker) and Ryan Long

Erica (Walker) and Ryan Long

Erica (Walker) and Ryan Long met during her move-in day her freshman year in August 1998 when he delivered cookies…

Genevieve (DuBois) and Greg Sutton

Genevieve (DuBois) and Greg Sutton

Active in the mining industry and the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Genevieve (DuBois) and Greg Sutton first met…