A southeast Michigan native and Michigan State University fruit tree expert competed on Friday’s episode of “Jeopardy!”
Chayce Griffith, originally from Saline in Washtenaw County, finished the episode in second place, though he held a lead at several points during the Double Jeopardy! round.
After hitting a Daily Double in the second round of play, Griffith held a $6,000 lead. However, reigning champ Tristan Williams from Lincoln, Nebraska, rallied and was up more than $6,000 heading into Final Jeopardy!
Griffith missed the final clue, which tested contestants’ knowledge of the 1890 play “Hedda Gabler.” He finished in second place with $4,800.
Williams responded correctly in Final Jeopardy! and won his eighth straight game. He’s now won $158,501. Valerie Fulton, an attorney from Greenville, South Carolina, finished in third with $1.
Who is Chayce Griffith?
Griffith is a professor of tree fruit physiology at Michigan State University. He explained his work to “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings during the portion of the show when Jennings chats with each contestant.
“We’re trying to make plants work better for us,” Griffith said during the episode. “In my particular job I get to work on tree fruit — first Michigan apples, now Michigan cherries, peaches — trying to make them better.”
Notably, Griffith worked on the popular Honeycrisp variety of apple, drawing praise from Jennings.
“You’re doing good work,” the host told him.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Griffith spent six years as a graduate research assistant at MSU after earning his bachelor’s degree in chemical and environmental engineering from the University of Michigan and his master’s degree in horticulture from MSU.
UM’s University Record publication reported that Griffith played a central role in preserving the legacy of the historic Tappan Oak tree, which had been on the Michigan campus since 1858, until it was removed in November 2021 due to decay and fungus.
As a sophomore, Griffith collected acorns from the famed tree and successfully grew several saplings at his parents’ home in Saline. After the original oak was removed, he donated one surviving sapling to the university, where it was planted on Earth Day 2025 near the Alumni Center as a symbol of sustainability and continuity, the University Record reported.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan fruit tree professor competes on ‘Jeopardy!’ How did he fare?
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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