David Madden (Jeopardy! contestant)

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David "Dave" Madden (born June 13, 1981) is an American game show contestant, academic competition organizer, and art historian. He is a former 19-day champion on Jeopardy! and holds the eighth-longest streak in Jeopardy! history (tied with Jason Zuffranieri and behind only Ken Jennings, Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, James Holzhauer, Mattea Roach, Cris Pannullo, and Julia Collins in this respect).

Madden is the founder and executive director of the for-profit National History Bee and Bowl, the International History Bee and Bowl, the United States Geography Championships, the US Academic Bee and Bowl, the National Science Bee, The International Science Bee, the National Humanities Bee, the National Political Science Bee, the International History Olympiad, and the International Geography Bee franchises. These are all organized under the umbrella organization of International Academic Competitions, a company owned by Madden. International Academic Competitions runs about 12 contests in 30 countries, whose participants and staff have gone on to become Jeopardy! winners themselves.^[1]

Early life[edit]

Madden was born and raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey. During his time at Ridgewood High School, Madden competed on his school's Quiz Bowl team, which he captained to a second-place finish at the 1999 National Academic Championship. Madden attended Princeton Universityand graduated as a Woodrow Wilson School major in 2003. He subsequently attended the Free University of Berlin and received a master's degree in international relations in 2007.^[2]

Jeopardy![edit]

Making his first appearance on the July 5, 2005, episode, Madden continued on a winning streak until September 19, winning a total of 19 games and $432,400. He was eventually defeated by Victoria Groce, a musician from Decatur, Georgia.^[3] During the 2006 Tournament of Champions, Madden won his first-round match^[4] (defeating the eventual winner of the Tournament, Michael Falk), but failed to win his semifinal match,^[5] taking home a consolation prize of $10,000 and bringing his total to $442,400.

Madden first watched Jeopardy! with a babysitter when he was 11–12 years old. Madden would get the correct response to more clues than his babysitter. Madden claims to have studied a great deal in preparation for the show. His parents did not realize that Madden was going to be on Jeopardy! until his first game aired.^[6]

Madden's streak of 19 wins in regular games was the second-longest in Jeopardy! history (after Jennings). He was later surpassed by Julia Collins (20 wins in 2014), James Holzhauer (32 wins in 2019), Matt Amodio (38 wins in 2021), Amy Schneider (40 wins in 2022), and Mattea Roach (23 wins in 2022), and Cris Pannullo (21 wins in 2022). Madden now has the eighth-longest Jeopardy! winning streak tied with Jason Zuffranieri. Madden's total winnings in regular games of $432,400 were also the second-highest (after Jennings). He currently has the seventh-highest total winnings including tournament play.^[7]

Madden was invited to take part in 2014's Battle of the Decades Jeopardy! event but declined due to contractual issues. However, he was invited and was able to participate in the 2019 Jeopardy! All-Star Games tournament featuring 18 past champions. Madden was selected as the seventh out of 12 picks in the All-Star Games Draft in September 2018, thus becoming a member of "Team Brad", led by the all-time Jeopardy! winnings leader, Brad Rutter, along with his former Princeton University Quiz Bowl teammate, Larissa Kelly, who was the sixth pick in the draft.^[8]

Team Brad won their first-round match, and in the final episode, airing on March 5, 2019, won the All-Star Games Tournament's grand prize of $1,000,000, which was split between the three team members.^[9] After Madden's share of the prize, his all-time Jeopardy! earnings totaled $775,733.33.

In 2024, Madden participated in the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT), ultimately losing in the semifinals, taking home $10,000 and bringing his all-time Jeopardy! earnings totaled $785,733.33.

Work as an academic competition organizer[edit]

In 2010, Madden founded the National History Bee and Bowl, two academic quiz competitions for students with a history focus (the Bee is for individual students, the Bowl is for teams). He oversees all aspects of NHBB and has expanded the competitions to include colleges and middle schools in the USA and high schools in over 20 foreign countries. The ones outside the United States are known as the International History Bee and Bowl.

In 2012, Madden organized the National History Bee Middle School Competition, whose National Championships were filmed in May 2012 for broadcast on History. That same year, he founded the U.S. Geography Olympiad, which serves as the qualifying competition for students in the United States who are looking to attend the International Geography Olympiad. At the 2014 International Geography Olympiad, Madden served as head coach for the American team, which included the overall champion, James Mullen of Cupertino, California.

In 2015, Madden founded the International History Olympiad, which brought 111 students from 14 countries together for its inaugural competition, held at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

In 2016, Madden founded the United States Academic Bee and Bowl, the National Science Bee, and the National Humanities Bee, all of which are currently directed at students in eighth grade and younger. The inaugural National Championships for all of these events got held in Arlington, Virginia, in May 2016.

In 2017, Madden founded the International Geography Bee is a worldwide geography quiz competition. The inaugural IGB World Championships were held in 2018 in Berlin in conjunction with the 3rd International History Olympiad.

Personal life[edit]

From July 2007 to February 2008, Madden hiked the length of the east coast of the United States as a fundraiser for the Fisher House Foundation, a charity that provides free accommodations for family members of veterans at American military hospitals.^[10]

Madden is a co-author of the 2010 catalog raisonné of the American artist Richard Anuszkiewicz.

In 2020, Madden launched the website and fundraising platform Demoquiz.org, which organizes online quiz evenings on behalf of Democratic candidates for office in the U.S.

Since 2022, Madden has been an ambassador for Rainforest Alliance, which has a focus on developing educational initiatives in support of rainforest conservation.

Madden married his wife, Nolwenn, in 2012.

See also[edit]

• List of notable Jeopardy! contestants

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Madden's personal blog detailing his hike