Eric Monkman
Eric Monkman (born c.1988)[1] and Bobby Seagull are academics and television personalities based in the United Kigdom.
They came to fame as a result of appearances on the 2016–17 season of the BBC Two quiz show University Challenge.[2] Monkman was captain of the Wolfson College, Cambridge team, and Seagull was captain of the Emmanuel College, Cambridge team. They met in the semi-final where Wolfson won, but were beaten by Balliol College, Oxford in the final.[3]
They presented the BBC Radio 4 programme Monkman and Seagull’s Polymathic Adventure, and wrote the quiz book The Monkman and Seagull Quiz Book published by Eyewear Publishing in October 2017.[4] They presented Monkman and Seagull’s Genius Guide to Britain, a four-part series on BBC Two, first broadcast in 2018.[2]
Monkman comes from Oakville, Ontario, where his father was a doctor; Dr Monkman died when Eric was thirteen. Monkman obtained his first degree from the University of Waterloo[5] and then studied for a master's degree in economics at Wolfson College, Cambridge, when he captained the college's University Challenge. The team lost in the 2017 final to a team from Balliol College, Oxford. His girlfriend, Jiang Na, who teaches law at Beijing Normal University, had previously also appeared on the programme.[1] Viewers described him as the most intense contestant ever, and reviewers called him an "unexpected hero".[1]
Seagull is a secondary school mathematics teacher from London. As of October 2018[update], he is also pursuing a doctorate at the University of Cambridge relating to mathematical anxiety. He has been a columnist for the Financial Times since January 2018.[6][2]
References
- ^ a b c Rachael Pells (10 April 2017). "Who is Eric Monkman? All you need to know about the University Challenge finalist". The Independent. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ a b c Amy Walker (17 August 2018). "University Challenge duo Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull to star in BBC show". The Guardian.
- ^ "Who are Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull and how are they best known?". Metro. 17 September 2018.
- ^ Monkman, Eric; Seagull, Bobby (20 December 2017). "Monkman and Seagull's brainbox quiz of 2017". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Alice Vincent (10 April 2017). "Quizzing, canoeing and family tragedy: 10 things you didn't know about University Challenge finalist Eric Monkman". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ "Bobby Seagull". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-10-09.