Stefanie Landeweer turned a slim second-place standing into a win on Wednesday, Oct. 28, taking home $19,400 after the Final Jeopardy round on Jeopardy!. The chemistry professor from Lexington Park finished ahead of three-day champion Shannon Leigh Godwin and challenger Spencer Murphy.
The last clue came in the Current TV Streaks category and asked contestants to name a longtime male prime-time television actor whose music career included the 1993 album Home Invasion. Landeweer came up with Ice-T, then added a $6,000 wager to her $13,400 and crossed the finish line at $19,400.
Murphy had led into the final clue with $19,200, which made the ending even tighter. He answered Tim Allen and lost his $7,601 wager, falling to $11,599. Godwin also responded correctly and ended at $10,600, but Landeweer’s wager was enough to move her from trailing position to the episode win.
The result mattered because it reshaped the game in one move. Landeweer entered Final Jeopardy behind Murphy and still walked away as the winner, the kind of finish that gives the final clue more weight than the rest of the match combined. It also put her in position to return as champion on Thursday, Oct. 29.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland celebrated the victory, calling Landeweer one of its own and a visiting faculty member in chemistry. The college said her teaching specialties include analytical and environmental chemistry, and that her research focuses on using analytical methods to study UV filter chemicals in marine environments, work that helps inform environmental risk assessments. Her academic background includes a doctorate in environmental chemistry from Florida International University in 2023, a master’s degree in chemistry from Florida International University in 2022, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and German from Illinois Wesleyan University.
Jeopardy! makes new episodes available on Hulu and Peacock the day after they air, and they remain there for one week. That means viewers can still catch the Oct. 28 episode beginning Thursday, Oct. 29, with a qualifying subscription, and see how Landeweer turned a near miss into a win.
