Colby Burnett is the first Jeopardy! contestant to have won both the Teachers Tournament and the Tournament of Champions. Burnett, who at the time was a teacher at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois,[1] won the Teachers Tournament in November 2012.[2] Later, in February 2013, Burnett won the show's Tournament of Champions, taking home the $250,000 grand prize. He later appeared on season 3 of TBS's reality game show King of the Nerds.[3] Governor Pat Quinn named December 18 as "Colby Burnett Day" in Illinois.[4][5]
In 2014, he competed in the Battle of the Decades, where he made the semifinals but lost his match to Roger Craig.[citation needed]
Burnett grew up in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.[7] He credits his mother with keeping him out of trouble, as well as enhancing his intellect by buying him an encyclopedia, which he has read from cover to cover.[8] After winning Jeopardy!, Burnett bought his mom a new home in a better area of Chicago.[7] When asked what the greatest accomplishment of his life was, the Jeopardy! champion stated, "knowing a duke of Sealand."[9]