College Quiz Bowl

The College Quiz Bowl was a radio quiz show in which teams of four students competed for a $500 prize for their institutions and the right to continue in the competition. The teams competed from their own campuses, with Allen Ludden reading the questions in New York and a local NBC man on hand at each college. In 1953-54 Jane Baltzell ’55, Thomas McCormick ’54, Judith Thorsen ’55, and Caleb Woodhouse ’54 ended the eight game winning streak of the University of Minnesota, and went on to defeat Michigan, Georgetown, Ohio State, Trinity, and Maryland, and to lose to Smith College in their seventh match. Other teams from Brown competed in the years following with less success. In the first televised College Bowl contest, Brown was defeated by Northwestern University. In January 1968 Northwestern and Brown were invited to participate in a tenth-anniversary rematch, from which Brown returned with the victory and $10,000 in scholarship money.