Michael Yates Jeopardy Profile: Age, Job, Family, Stats

Find out all the Jeopardy! results for Michael Yates, including games played, scores and competitors.

Michael Yates Jeopardy Contestant Profile

Dr. Michael C. Yates is a finance professor and academic based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he serves as a Teaching Professor and Clinical Associate Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance at the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. With nearly two decades of experience in higher education, Yates has built a reputation as an engaging educator specializing in investments, valuation, portfolio management, and finance education. Prior to joining the University of Tennessee in August 2020, he spent eight years at Georgia State University, serving as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Finance and Faculty Director of the Master of Science in Finance program. Earlier in his academic career, he was an Assistant Professor of Finance at Auburn University from 2007 to 2011, and an Assistant Instructor at the University of Texas at Austin while completing his doctoral studies.

Throughout his career, Yates has developed and taught a broad range of undergraduate and graduate finance courses, with expertise spanning investments, financial valuation, portfolio management, and other core finance disciplines. His teaching has earned widespread praise from students, who frequently describe him as energetic, charismatic, approachable, and one of the strongest professors at the University of Tennessee. His classes are known for maintaining high academic standards through frequent cold-calling, unannounced pop quizzes that account for roughly 15 percent of students’ grades, and examinations making up approximately 80 percent of the overall assessment. Despite the demanding workload, students consistently note that he is highly supportive, accessible during office hours, and committed to helping them succeed.

Yates’s teaching excellence has been recognized through numerous awards, including the Home Federal Excellence in Teaching Award in 2022 and 2023, along with multiple finalist selections for the Allen H. Keally Excellence in Teaching Award. He also received teaching honors during his doctoral studies at the University of Texas. Beyond the classroom, his research focuses on market behavior, labor structures, and finance education, with publications appearing in the American Economic Review and the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Some of his research has attracted mainstream media attention because of its broader economic implications.

Professionally, Yates is affiliated with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he can be contacted through his institutional email addresses (ya***@ut*.edu and ya***@te*******.edu). In 2026, he gained additional public recognition after being announced as a contestant on the long-running quiz show Jeopardy!, representing the University of Tennessee on the episode airing Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

Contestant Image Credit: Jeopardy Official Website

Michael Yates Jeopardy Results