Retired Wyoming Professor Surprised to Be Featured on “Jeopardy!”

Retired University of Wyoming archeology professor Robert Kelly received an unexpected surprise on Thanksgiving when he became an answer on the iconic quiz show “Jeopardy!” Cowboy State Daily reports.

Though Kelly doesn’t watch TV, his siblings alerted him after seeing his name mentioned during the episode.

The $400 clue in the “-Ology” category read:

“Robert L. Kelly began collecting arrowheads at 10 & is co-author of a standard text on this subject.”

The correct response:

“What is archeology?”

Kelly, who was spending Thanksgiving with family in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was eating pumpkin pie when his phone buzzed with messages from his siblings.

“I’m sitting there at the Thanksgiving table, and my phone dings… It’s one of my sisters saying, ‘Rob was a clue on Jeopardy!,” Kelly told Cowboy State Daily.

Initially skeptical, he soon confirmed it was real.

Kelly didn’t see the episode live, as he and his wife don’t have cable and use their TV primarily for streaming. However, two of his sisters in different time zones caught the broadcast and shared the news. Kelly later watched the clue on the show’s website.

“It’s just weird to find yourself a clue on Jeopardy! My friends have had a lot of fun with it,” he said.

According to Kelly, the Jeopardy! writers accurately captured details about his career. He is co-author of Archeology, a widely used college textbook, and has been fascinated by archeology since childhood.

“I’ve been interested in archeology for as long as I can remember,” said Kelly, who began collecting arrowheads at age 10.

His textbook, originally authored in 1979 by David Hurst Thomas, is now in its seventh edition. Kelly joined as a co-author in 2004.

Kelly, who retired from the University of Wyoming in 2023, remains active in fieldwork. This past summer, he participated in a dig near Douglas, Wyoming, at a site where Paleo-Indian hunters killed a mammoth about 13,000 years ago.

“I’ve said that’s the last field project I will have direct responsibility for,” he said.

He however plans to continue assisting with others’ projects.

Despite the honor, Kelly remains puzzled about how he was selected for the clue. He noted that all three contestants attempted to answer the clue, with only the third responding correctly.

“It’s not like my name is Jane Goodall… I’m pretty sure those contestants didn’t think, ‘Oh yeah, Robert Kelly, I know him,” Kelly quipped.