Alex Trebek legacy fellowship fund established at Television Academy for media educators
By Karu F. Daniels
Friends of Alex Trebek are teaming up with the charitable arm of the Television Academy to pay a purposeful tribute to the late, beloved game show host.
The Television Academy Foundation announced Thursday the establishment of the Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowship Fund, in honor of the beloved "Jeopardy!" host who died of pancreatic cancer in 2020.
Alex Trebek, host of "Jeopardy!" attends a ceremony honoring the show's executive producer Harry Friedman with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, in this Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, file photo. (Richard Shotwell/Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Launched with a gift of $50,000 from "Jeopardy!" executive producer Harry Friedman and his Harry & Judy Friedman Family Foundation, the fund will provide "a select number of need-based fellowships" to college and university educators.
The Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowships is setting out to fund the chosen educators' participation in the Television Academy Foundation's annual faculty conference, which "connects college classrooms with the television industry by providing media professors with curriculum-enhancing seminars on the latest in the art, science and business of television."
The event will be held virtually from Nov. 15-17 with other funds from the charity supporting the conference itself.
When the conference returns to an in-person format, the fellowships will fund educators' travel and lodging costs.
One of this year's conference panels is called, "The Art of the Game: Careers in Quiz and Game Shows," in which the 19-time Emmy winner Friedman will participate alongside the "Jeopardy!" head writer Michele Loud, Warner Horizon Television executive vice president Kevin Fortson, and moderated by Bob Boden, who's the executive producer of syndicated game show "Funny You Should Ask."
Initially, 25 college and/or university educators from across the country will be granted the fellowships.
In a statement, Friedman said the program "will serve as a lasting tribute to our dear friend's life and work."
"Much like Jeopardy! itself, the Foundation's programs use the power of television to educate and to celebrate and reward knowledge," he continued.
Trebek began hosting "Jeopardy!" when it launched on syndication in 1984 and continued until shortly before his death at age 80 in November.