Government Professor Tom Nichols is a strange man. Fluent in four languages, an accomplished Sovietologist and five-time champion on the television game show Jeopardy!, he says he is proudest of his graduation from college.
"Where I come from, that is a significant accomplishment," he said.
Nichols, who comes from a working class Massachusetts family, said his second language, Greek, came easily, since he is one-half Greek. He also speaks German, Russian and, of course, English.
Since then Nichols has mostly answered questions: questions from students as a full-time professor, questions from congressmen as a legislative aide and questions from game-show host Alex Trebek as a Jeopardy! contestant.
Nichols, who modestly said he has a "good memory for trivia," crushed eight opponents in his first four days on the program. But on his fifth appearance, things went awry.
Asked about a Hanseatic seaport, Nichols replied with the correct answer -- and was ruled wrong. He lost by a narrow margin.
"It didn't occur to me that there was an error. It happened so fast," he said.
Responding to viewer complaints, the producers of Jeopardy! gave Nichols the chance he had missed. He easily won an extra make-up game, and then another, to become a five-time champion.
Things did not go so smoothly, though, at the Tournament of Champions. Nichols says his victory hinged, ironically, on being able to name the last king of Greece.
But Nichols acknowledges there is more to life than Jeopardy!. He has a keen interest in movies, music and the former Soviet Union, where he has served as a delegate of the Arms Control Commission to the 1989 Forum for US-Soviet Dialogue meetings.
He is also an avid follower of US politics and a self-described "moderate libertarian." Nichols says he starts each day "by disagreeing with Professor Shoch about whatever is in the paper. It is a lot of fun. We are practically a traveling road-show."
But Nichols' says teaching at Dartmouth is what he most enjoys.
"I avoid trying to be the kind of teacher I used to hate. I roam the room a lot and try to teach in a very conversational way. It is important to engage students ."
Asked how he would like to be remembered, Nichols said"Perhaps the best thing is to be remembered. That is more than a lot of people can say."
