Joshua J. Weikert ’96 to be appear on Jeopardy!

Joshua J. Weikert, Ph.D., ‘96 remembers his family huddled around the television on a nightly basis growing up.
From the comfort of their living room, Weikert, his mom, dad, and sister competed against each other in Jeopardy! — the long running television quiz show where the questions are the answers and the answers are the questions.

For the last 15 years, Weikert has tried to work his way into competing in the real thing at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. Weikert, a 1996 Valley Forge Military Academy graduate, realized that dream earlier this winter and is scheduled to make his Jeopardy! debut next week on the Friday, March 21 episode.

“The idea of going on Jeopardy! was just like a dream come true,” Weikert said. “Like this is it. This is the top of the mountain. If you want to compete in a trivia game, it’s the best one there is.”

Weikert resides in Collegeville, Pa. and is currently an Associate Professor and the Department Chair of the Department of Civil Engagement at Immaculata University. He is an officer in the US Army Reserve and has also served as a research consultant, policy analyst, and legislative advisor for governments and political campaigns, most recently for the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives.

Weikert arrived at Valley Forge Military Academy as an eighth grader in August 1991 and graduated in 1996.
He went on to become an Honor Graduate in Modern Standard Arabic from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. He also has a bachelor’s degree from West Chester University, master’s degrees from Villanova University and Immaculata University, and a doctorate in Political Science from Temple University.

“I found that the incentive structure really worked for me (at Valley Forge),” Weikert said. “We in pop psychology know that the gamification of things sometimes makes them easier. And when you’re in an environment where there are medals to be won for academic performance and things like that, it can make it just one little motivation to sort of get you off the couch and get engaged with your studies in a way that might not be there.”

While he was not allowed to reveal too many details about the game, Weikert said his Valley Forge Military Academy experience couldn’t have hurt his chances. Some of the military history he learned at the Academy was part of his show prep. He noted one of the cool moments as a Jeopardy! fan was recognizing Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who arrived at VFMA at the same time as him, as an answer on the show.

Weikert noted the intensity of the game when the lights were on and the camera was rolling surprised him a little but the brisk pace made it so there wasn’t too much time to think about any nerves. He also appreciated some sage advice host Ken Jennings gave him and the other contestants before the show.

“He said that, Look, we wish you could all win on Jeopardy!, but we know that’s not the case, right?,” Weikert recalled. “Not everybody’s going to win, but I promise you at some point during your game, you’re going to have some kind of a win. There’s going to be some question that you got that you didn’t think you knew. You’re going to get a lucky guess. You’re going to get a daily double. There’s going to be something that you’re going to take away from this. And we all just sort of looked around like that’s a really good point. That was really just wonderful.”

Make sure to tune into Jeopardy! on Friday, March 21 to cheer Weikert on!