From the Jeopardy! Stage to the College

As an expert in cognition, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience Monica Thieu, PhD, studies the brain’s ability to think, understand and recall knowledge — a skill that has shaped not only her scholarship, but her career as a trivia champion.

In 2012, Thieu represented the University of North Texas in Jeopardy! College Championships, winning the competition at just 18 years old and becoming the youngest champion at the time. Since then, she has returned to the show for the Tournament of Champions, All-Star Games and the first-ever Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. She has also appeared on other game shows such as Master Minds and 500 Questions.

Now, Thieu brings that expertise to the College of Arts and Sciences, where she teaches courses in statistics, scientific computing and computational neuroscience. Her passion for teaching began during her own college career, first through undergraduate research and later as a teaching assistant in graduate school at Columbia University.

“Around the same time, I got a position as a section leader for introductory psychology,” Thieu says. “The professors were incredible teaching mentors, who showed me that teaching was not only an art but a science that could be improved through research. As a result, I ended up falling in love with research and teaching. And it turns out — that’s exactly the job description of a professor.”

In addition to her course load, Thieu leads the Computational Cognition & Affect Lab (CoCoA), which studies how perception contributes to emotion by investigating neural algorithms through computational tools. The lab, which is based at USD, engages students in the college, providing opportunities for research-based inquiry.

“Our senses tell us what is going on in the outside world, and our emotions guide us to interact with the world in a way that will support our survival,” Thieu explains. “One of my lab’s current projects is studying how we process visual looming — the way objects appear to get larger when they’re moving toward us.”

The lab is also studying a subject close to home for Thieu: trivia. She is quick to note that success in trivia does not necessarily correlate with academic intelligence.

“One of the most important things I want people to know about trivia is that trivia expertise is not just ‘having a good memory’ or ‘being smart,’” she says. “I know many very smart scientists who are terrible with trivia.”

Her research suggests that some people are naturally predisposed to remember more trivia because those facts are tied to memories of the life events during which they were learned.

“While these results came from a study designed with memory scientists, they’re also consistent with the lived experiences of other trivia experts I’ve met through Jeopardy!,” she says. “I never thought I would be doing community-engaged research with trivia experts, but you can apply science anywhere your curiosity strikes.”

Beyond her scholarship, Thieu is eager to engage students through a liberal arts pedagogy.

“A liberal arts education makes all of us wiser people,” she says. “Scientists-in-training can really benefit from building diverse ways of thinking and knowing. I’m excited to take advantage of the interdisciplinary opportunities available across the USD community — both to keep growing myself and to create growth opportunities for students.”

By weaving together neuroscience, computation and inquiry, Thieu’s work reflects the interdisciplinary thinking at the heart of a liberal arts education. Whether she is modeling neural algorithms, mentoring students in the classroom or buzzing in on the trivia stage, Thieu serves as a champion to the college. 

— Emma Pirhala