Heather Ryan, a health program director from the town of Binghamton, appeared on the popular television show Jeopardy! last Monday.

Ryan competed against Ian Taylor, a food sales representative from Cleveland, Ohio and returning four-day champion Will Wallace, a video game designer from Austin, Texas. She came in second to Taylor, losing by only $1 in Final Jeopardy after gaining significant ground in Double Jeopardy. Despite her loss, Ryan said she cherishes her time on the show, keeping in contact with Taylor and Wallace, whom she spoke with the night the episode aired.

“It was very fun,” Ryan said. “I had a great time. Everybody there was very welcoming.”

Ryan said nothing specific inspired her to go on the show. She took the test online one night early in 2023 out of boredom and auditioned last summer. In the summer of 2024, her episode was filmed in Los Angeles.

“It’s such a part of American culture that I definitely wanted to go on when I got the call for it,” she said.

Ryan doesn’t credit her Jeopardy! skills to being exceptionally smart, though she does enjoy trivia — she did Quiz Bowl in high school and was getting ready to meet her trivia team as she spoke with Pipe Dream.

An awkward moment in the competition came during the first round of a “Complete the Rhyming Phrase” category when a hint was given beginning with “men seldom make passes … ” to which Wallace answered correctly with “girls who wear glasses.” Ken Jennings, the show’s host, apologized, saying, “A little problematic, sorry, Heather,” to Ryan, who wears glasses, with Wallace adding, “very.”

“It is definitely an odd choice,” Ryan said. “I think it made everybody in the audience and on stage, and Ken Jennings too, a little uncomfortable. It was like, ‘oh, that was unexpected.’ Maybe we choose better rhyming phrases in 2024. Unfortunately, there are still girls who are [in] middle school and they don’t want to wear their glasses and they’re losing out on their education. So, I think it’s much better to be able to see than anything else.”

In her work as a health director with the Broome County Health Department, Ryan promotes immunizations and educates the community about lead poisoning. She works in case management for children suffering from high lead exposure, a common issue in the area, as many houses were built before lead paint was banned in 1978.

She also provides support at places like state fairs, schools and universities, organizing health promotion to ensure immunization requirements are followed.

“We’re big fans of Binghamton University because Harpur’s Ferry is always pitching in when it comes to disaster response and testing and immunizations for COVID-19,” Ryan said. “We have plenty of EMTs from Harpur’s Ferry working with us.”

Her biggest piece of advice for students is to stay up to date on all required vaccinations, including COVID-19, the flu and HPV.

Ryan said she fondly remembers her time filming the show.

“It’s just a very special thing to play a small role in this big part,” she said. “It’s been running for 40 years, and so I got to play my part in it.”