Alexander Guttenplan (born 8 June 1990) is a former student primarily known as the captain of the team from

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

that won the '' University Challenge'' TV quiz show in 2010, scoring 315 points to 100 against

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, in the final. His performance in this has been compared with that of

Gail Trimble Gail Christina Trimble (born 13 August 1982) is a fellow and tutor in Classics at Trinity College, Oxford. Early life and education Trimble was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, to Mary and Michael Trimble. Her father worked as a manager for B ...

. He also "got the better" of presenter Jeremy Paxman, in an exchange which became an Internet sensation. He has hundreds of fans who call themselves Guttenfans: "Guys want to be him, girls want to be with him!". He also took part in a special edition of ''

Only Connect ''Only Connect'' is a British television quiz show presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell. In the series, teams compete in a tournament of finding connections between seemingly unrelated clues. The title is taken from a passage in E. M. Fo ...

'', leading a team from ''University Challenge'' against the champions of the first series of ''Only Connect'', the Crossworders. In September 2017, Guttenplan appeared as part of "Team Emma" on '' Eggheads''. Guttenplan is of Jewish and Greek ancestry. His father, D. D. Guttenplan of U.S. Jewish origin, and mother

Maria Margaronis Maria Margaronis (born 1958 in Marylebone, London) is a British journalist of Greek descent. Margaronis has written from ''The Nation''’s London bureau, the other half of which was her husband D. D. Guttenplan, now ''The Nation''s editor. A for ...

from Greece, are both writers. He has two siblings. He was educated at the Hall School Hampstead and Westminster School, where he showed prodigious talent in a school quiz at the age of eleven. He was chairbeing of the

Cambridge University Science Fiction Society This is intended to be a complete list of articles detailing clubs, societies and other common leisure activities associated with the University of Cambridge, England. Sports General * Varsity match, the annual match for each sports team aga ...

. He has a PhD in smart nanomaterials from repeat proteins and amyloid fibrils from the University of Cambridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guttenplan, Alexander 1990 births Living people Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Contestants on University Challenge People educated at Westminster School, London American emigrants to England American people of Jewish descent English people of Jewish descent American people of Greek descent English people of Greek descent People from New York City People from Hampstead American emigrants to the United Kingdom