Richard Koo Jeopardy Profile: Age, Job, Family, Stats
Find out all the Jeopardy! results for Richard Koo, including games played, scores and competitors.
Richard Koo Jeopardy Contestant Profile
Richard Koo is a middle school mathematics teacher based in Forest Hills, New York, who appears on Jeopardy! as a contestant from Forest Hills with the occupation “Middle School Math Teacher.” He has spent roughly 15 years teaching mathematics in New York City independent lower and middle schools and currently teaches at The Spence School in Manhattan, where he is a member of the mathematics faculty.
Koo’s path into teaching was not direct. Before becoming an educator, he worked in the financial services industry and completed substantial higher education in economics, finance and business. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wesleyan University, followed by an MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He later returned to university to prepare for a career change, earning a master’s degree in Childhood Education from St. John’s University.
His eventual move into education grew out of his experience as a parent volunteer. Koo volunteered through Learning Leaders at his daughter’s elementary school, where working directly with children led him to discover that teaching was the work he wanted to pursue professionally. He subsequently left financial services and entered elementary and middle-school mathematics education.
As a teacher, Koo emphasizes flexibility in mathematical thinking rather than having students memorize a single procedure. He encourages students to recognize that many mathematics problems can be solved in multiple ways, to test their reasoning and to understand why their methods work. That philosophy places conceptual understanding ahead of simply reproducing algorithms.
Koo has taught mathematics at independent schools in New York City for many years, particularly at the lower-school and middle-school levels. He currently works at The Spence School, a private K–12 school in Manhattan, as a mathematics teacher. His experience gives him a combination of classroom teaching, private-school education and one-on-one tutoring expertise.
Koo has also worked as a private mathematics tutor, bringing his classroom philosophy into individualized instruction. His tutoring background is focused on helping younger students develop confidence, explore different approaches to problems and understand mathematical reasoning rather than simply arrive at the correct answer.
His professional background is distinctive because it combines finance and education. His undergraduate training in economics and MBA-level study in finance gave him an analytical and quantitative foundation before he moved into teaching, while his graduate degree in childhood education supplied the pedagogical preparation for working with younger students.
His Jeopardy! appearance therefore comes after a career that has included finance, graduate business education, parent volunteering, teacher training, classroom mathematics instruction and tutoring. Rather than following the conventional path directly from an education degree into teaching, Koo entered the profession after an earlier business career and a personally meaningful experience volunteering at his daughter’s school.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Richard Koo |
| Location & Residence | Forest Hills, New York, United States. He works in Manhattan, New York City, at The Spence School. |
| Profession & Jobs | Middle school mathematics teacher, lower-school mathematics teacher and private math tutor. Currently a Mathematics Teacher at The Spence School in Manhattan. Has taught mathematics in New York City independent lower and middle schools for approximately 15 years. Before entering education, he worked in the financial services industry. He also tutors students privately in mathematics. |
| Gender & Sex | Male / man. |
| Age & Date of Birth | Approximately 55 years old in 2026, with a reported birth year of approximately 1971. |
| Nationality & Ethnicity | American. Likely Asian American, with the surname Koo commonly associated with Chinese or Korean heritage. |
| Education & School | Wesleyan University – Bachelor of Arts in Economics. New York University Stern School of Business – MBA in Finance. St. John’s University – Master’s degree in Childhood Education. His education therefore spans economics, finance, business and elementary/middle-school pedagogy. |
| Relationships (Married/Dating/Sexuality) & Family | Father of at least one daughter. His transition into teaching was prompted in part by volunteering through Learning Leaders at his daughter’s elementary school, where he discovered that he enjoyed working with children. |
| Biography & More Details | 2026 Jeopardy! contestant from Forest Hills, New York, introduced as a Middle School Math Teacher. Koo began his professional life in financial services after studying economics at Wesleyan and earning an MBA in finance from NYU Stern. His career changed after he volunteered at his daughter’s elementary school through Learning Leaders, an experience that revealed an interest in working directly with children. He subsequently earned a graduate degree in Childhood Education from St. John’s University and moved into teaching. He has now spent roughly 15 years teaching mathematics at New York City independent lower and middle schools and currently teaches at The Spence School in Manhattan. His teaching philosophy stresses that mathematics problems can be approached through multiple methods rather than a single prescribed algorithm, and he encourages students to test their thinking, explain their reasoning and build genuine conceptual understanding. He also works as a private mathematics tutor, extending the same approach to individualized instruction. His background combines economics, finance, business, education, parenting and mathematics instruction, making his career path considerably broader than the simple “middle school math teacher” description used on Jeopardy!. |
Contestant Image Credit: Jeopardy Official Website
Richard Koo Jeopardy Results
| Thursday, 15 October 2026 | Returning Champion Final Score: $TBC Round 2 Score: $TBC Round 1 Score: $TBC | Eileen Goodwin Boston, Massachusetts Research Scientist Final Score: $TBC Round 2 Score: $TBC Round 1 Score: $TBC | Richard Koo Forest Hills, New York Middle School Math Teacher Final Score: $TBC Round 2 Score: $TBC Round 1 Score: $TBC |