Michael George Dupée

Michael George Dupée
Dupée with the Boy Scouts of America District Award of Merit on January 31, 2019
Born	(1966-10-23) October 23, 1966 (age 55) Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Emory University University of Florida Levin College of Law
Occupation	Judicial Clerk Author Physicist Computer Programmer Webmaster
Employer	U.S. Courts
Known for	10-time Jeopardy! champion Author of definitive book on competing on Jeopardy!
Spouse	Zana E. Dupee
Children	Zadia Dupée Spencer Dupée Charlie Dupée

Michael George Dupée (born October 23, 1966) is an American game show contestant and author who played on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! and published a book about the experience. At the time that he won the 1996 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, he was the 4th biggest winner in Jeopardy! history. He went on to appear in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005 and the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades in 2014.

Following his initial success on Jeopardy!, Dupée wrote about his experience and provided practice questions in his book How to Get on Jeopardy! and Win!,^[1] which was praised by 74-time Jeopardy! winner Ken Jennings as the best preparation for competing on Jeopardy!^[2][3] In 2000, Dupée wrote How to Be a TV Quiz Show Millionaire detailing how contestant wannabes could try out for various U.S. TV game shows, including Jeopardy! and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.^[4]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Dupée spent his early years in Hokkaido, Japan (1969–1971), where his father worked on military projects.^{[citation needed]} His parents, George A. Dupée, an electrical engineer and Chief Electronics Officer in the United States Merchant Marine, and Doris (Chagnon) Dupée, an accountant and business manager of radio and television stations, were married 49 years before Doris died in 2013.^[5] Dupée graduated from Winter Park High School in Winter Park, Florida, in 1984.^[6]

Dupée then attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where he earned a B.A. in Physics in 1988. He chose Physics as his major because his father suggested he pick the hardest major that he found fun.^[7] Then, he graduated, with Honors, in 1992 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville, Florida, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Law Review.^[8] Entirely student-edited, the Florida Law Review publishes articles, essays, lectures, and other scholarly work from professors, practitioners, and students from across the country and around the globe.^[9] During college and law school, Dupée represented both schools in College Bowl Academic Tournaments around the country.^[1][10] Dupée's Emory squad finished second at the 1988 College Bowl National Championship.^[11]

Jeopardy![edit]

In May 1995, Dupée was one of only 28 people to pass the Jeopardy! try-out exam out of the 300 who took it at a contestant-search in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1] He appeared on the show in April 1996, becoming a five-time undefeated champion and winning $66,401.^[12] He then participated in the 1996 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, remaining undefeated and winning the $100,000 grand prize.^[13]

In 2005, the undefeated Dupée was invited to participate in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, where he won his first game^[14] against former champions Jack Archey and Sandra Gore in a lock game. In his second-round game, he suffered his first defeat on Jeopardy! at the hands of Robert Slaven, despite having a sizable lead going into Final Jeopardy! ^[15] He was defeated a second time in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades in 2014, where he lost by $2,300 to all-time Jeopardy! money winner Brad Rutter.^[16][17]

Dupée's total earnings on Jeopardy! are $203,901, consisting of $66,401 from his original 5-day run, $100,000 prize in the 1996 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, $32,500 from the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, and $5,000 from the Battle of the Decades. As of May 23, 2019, Dupée was the 28th biggest winner in the show's history.^[17]

Professional life[edit]

After graduating law school, Dupée worked as a litigator for Holland & Knight in Orlando, Florida, one of America's largest law firms.^[18]

From 1994-96, Dupée was a judicial clerk for United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Senior Judge Robert Krupansky in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1][19]

During the summer of 1996, Dupée worked as the Assistant Head Counselor at Camp Canadensis, in Canadensis, Pennsylvania.^[1]

In 1993-94 and from the fall of 1996 until December 2016, Dupée was the law clerk for the Honorable Maurice M. Paul, United States District Court Judge in Tallahassee and Gainesville, Florida.^[20] Since the beginning of 2017, he has worked as a law clerk in Gainesville, Florida for various judges of the U.S. District Court.^[21] He has also been a contributing writer to the American Law Reports Fifth.^[1]

Personal life[edit]

Dupée married Zana E. Dupee in 1992, having met her as a fellow law student and Florida Law Review editor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She is the Director of Legal at AavantiBio, Inc.^[22] They are currently separated and have three children, Zadia, a biochemist working at the University of Florida;^[23] Spencer, who is attending the University of Florida College of Engineering and majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics; and Charlie, who is a competitive Yu-Gi-Oh Championship Series player and placed in the top 100 players at the 2019 NAWCQ.^[24]

Dupée got his love of trivia, games and puzzles from his grandmother, Angeline Chagnon ("Memere"), who lived until 101.^[25] She played Scrabble very competitively until shortly before her death, getting two consecutive "bingoes" in a game of Scrabble at age 100.^[7] Several times, she was witnessed at home solving Wheel of Fortune puzzles with no letters yet showing.^[7]

Dupée likes playing, watching and coaching sports. He has coached over 30 seasons of children’s soccer, football, and baseball.^[7] Dupée is an avid fan of the University of Florida Gators football team.^[26] Also, like his parents and siblings, he is a rabid Boston Red Sox fan; for example, his mother asked her family to request donations to the Boston Red Sox charitable foundation in her obituary in lieu of flowers.^[5]

Dupée is also a big supporter of and participant in the Boy Scouts of America. His older son, Spencer, is 22 and is an Eagle Scout. Dupée has been a den leader, cubmaster, assistant scout master, Philmont and SeaBase crew advisor, merit badge counseler, district committee member, fundraiser, camp director and district chair in the Boy Scouts.

At the Alachua District Awards and Recognition Dinner on January 31, 2019, Dupée was recognized by the Scouts, parents, and leaders of the Alachua District in the North Florida Council with the District Award of Merit, for rendering service of an outstanding nature at the district level.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Michael Dupée's Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades Interview in 2014
• Spencer Dupée's Tumbling Pass at the 2010 Junior Olympics