This Is Jeopardy! Dr. Shane Whitlock Reps Arkansas, Competes Again

The category is “Jeopardy Battle of the Decades” winner, and the correct answer is “Who is Shane Whitlock?”

Dr. Shane Whitlock, a diagnostic radiologist at Arkansas Surgical Hospital in central Arkansas, is scheduled to play Jeopardy in January — his tenth episode on the show, which will air sometime in early March.

Shane Whitlock on the set of Jeopardy as a college contestant representing the University of Arkansas in 1996.

Whitlock first appeared on the show in 1996, when he was a junior at the University of Arkansas.  He was the Jeopardy College Champion that year, and the only winner from the University of Arkansas in College Champions Week in the show’s history. He returned for a second time in 2005 to play in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, he was a quarter-finalist that year.

Whitlock earnings to date are $93,000 and a car.  The cash put him through medical school, and he drove the car he won through college and medical school.

The Battle of the Decades marks Jeopardy’s 30^th season.  Fifteen players from each decade of the show will compete for the championship. Whitlock was selected by fan vote from the pool of 120 players who appeared on the show’s Tournaments of Champions during the 1990s.

During the fan vote to select the 1990’s representative to the Jeopardy Battle of the Decades tournament, Whitlock provided the following message to fans:

I have the highest two-day finals total of any College Champion (accounting of course for the doubling of clue values in 2001).

I am a member of the “Elite 18”, those who made it to the third round of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Pam Mueller is the only other college champion to make it into this group.

In that third UTOC round, I was leading my game going into Final Jeopardy, but I couldn’t come up with the correct response, “Who were Tweedledee and Tweedledum?”. That allowed Frank Spangenburg to overtake my score and earn a place in the semi-finals. I really don’t want that to be the last moment of my Jeopardy career, and I would like to compete in the Decades Tournament just for a shot at redemption!

Also, if I were selected to compete, I would bring with me my ardent supporters: the entire state of Arkansas.

I know first hand that Arkansans love cheering on one of their own. My other Jeopardy appearances generated a lot of excitement and local press thoughout the state, and presumably brought some additional viewers to the local affiliates. I am the only champion in Arkansas eligible for this tournament, and I know I could rally up a lot of support for my appearance.

Whitlock is married to LeeAnn, and they have a 5-year-old son named Declan, who is undoubtedly a big fan. Whitlock played Quiz Bowl in High School, and as he posed for this picture, pondered, “What does the “F” in F-stop stand for?

The answer? “What is ‘focal length’?” Maybe that will be one of the questions on his next visit to the set of Jeopardy.

Good luck to you, Dr. Whitlock! We’ll be watching!