MEDINA, Ohio -- Unlike past local residents who have earned “legendary” status after years of exemplary professional, political or volunteer endeavors, Matt Amodio became a Medina County Local Legend in just a few months.
Beginning in April and ending in September, Amodio taped 39 episodes of the Jeopardy television quiz show -- winning the first 38 and earning $1,518,601. His Medina fans eagerly watched the programs, proud to claim him as a hometown hero.
A longtime Medina resident, Amodio attended Sydney Fenn Elementary School, Claggett Middle School and Medina High School. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 2009.
A strong supporter of public education, he is very complimentary about his teachers and the education he received in the Medina City Schools. He especially praised recently deceased social studies teacher John Kelly.
During his first three years of high school, Amodio played baseball.
“Being a pitcher was like a game of chess,” he said. Determining the proper pitch was a mind game with the batter. He also participated in Academic Challenge and the Junior Statesman program.
After high school, he attended The Ohio State University, where he “got a great education, met incredibly smart people and took the two hardest classes (I) ever took.” Those were in math.
He went on to earn a master’s degree in statistics, then an additional master’s degree in computer science from the Univiversity of Wisconsin-Madison. He is now close to earning a PhD from Yale University, where he is working to complete his dissertation.
His field of study is artificial intelligence; he analyzes data by looking for patterns and builds mathematical models to use in personalized medicine. He admits that his research is very hard for a lay person to understand.
But his intellectual interests go way beyond math and computers. Amodio attributes his amazing breadth of knowledge to his curiosity.
“When I find myself curious about something, I use the internet to pursue the topic,” he said.
He has always liked trivia and “quizzing myself on a vast array of knowledge.” He enjoys primarily non-fiction -- much of it on audio books while walking for exercise.
To prepare for the show, he watched past episodes of Jeopardy and noted categories that were repeated, then studied those with which he was unfamiliar. Not a regular TV viewer, he watched a lot of recent television to catch up with pop culture.
“I convinced myself I was being productive and not wasting time,” he said.
He also listened to a variety of musical genres to broaden his knowledge of contemporary music.
In the future, he would like to work in an academic setting, concentrating more on research than teaching. He has published papers as a PhD student and has traveled within the country presenting papers and posters at academic conferences.
He would prefer to settle in the Northeast, but noted that academic jobs are very competitive and that he may end up anywhere in the country.
Although Amodio’s fans may have been disappointed when he lost, he stated “I’m very happy with the way it went.” He said taking part on the show was stressful; his Fitbit recorded high spikes in his heart rate while competing, but he enjoyed challenging himself.
In a previous interview, he was asked how he would spend his earnings. He mentioned that he might repair his car’s air conditioning. When asked if that had happened, he said: “No. It’s almost winter. I’m a reluctant spender.”
The interview for this article took place at Cool Beans Café on Medina’s Square. While there, Amodio was approached by two women visiting Medina from Michigan who recognized him from the show. They congratulated him, then asked to take a “selfie” with him. He graciously accepted their congratulations and posed with them.
His fans will hopefully be able to enjoy watching him in several more episodes if and when he participates in Jeopardy’s Tournament of Champions. Meanwhile, he’ll continue to be the topic of conversations and a source of local pride.
This is one in a series of stories about Medina County Local Legends.
Read more from the Medina Sun.
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