Alex Trebek, PAR, and Jean Trebek, PAR
Over the past decade, Alex and Jean Trebek have shown themselves to be true partners in the mission of Fordham—through their support for the University, but also through their efforts to promote learning and give back to society.
Alex Trebek has hosted the popular quiz show Jeopardy! for more than three decades, receiving numerous accolades, including six Daytime Emmys and a 2011 Peabody Award for “encouraging, celebrating, and rewarding knowledge.” In their philanthropy, he and Jean Trebek—a businesswoman, author, and spiritual counselor—have supported World Vision, an international anti-poverty organization, as well as many other humanitarian and educational organizations. Jean Trebek has served a number of philanthropic organizations, such as the Council of the Children’s Burn Foundation, the Learning Rights Law Center, and the North Hollywood Church of Religious Science, and is co-creator of the altruistic website insidewink.
The Trebeks established both a forum on public policy issues and an innovation and challenge fund at the University of Ottawa, and in 2015, they established a scholarship fund at Fordham that today benefits students from north and east Harlem. Their son, Matthew, is a 2013 graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill, and Alex Trebek was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University’s commencement in 2011.
Fordham University bestowed the Fordham Founder’s Award on Alex and Jean Trebek at a presidential reception at the Bel-Air Country Club on Jan. 7, 2020.