DFI Announces 2023 Hal Hunt Lecture Being Delivered at 48th Annual Conference

Ken Jennings, Greatest Jeopardy! Player of All Time

Ken Jennings of Jeopardy! Fame to deliver Hal Hunt Lecture at 48th DFI Conference

Hawthorne, N.J. (May 23, 2023):  Ken Jennings, the greatest Jeopardy! player of all time, Jeopardy! co-host and best-selling author, is presenting the Hal Hunt Lecture on Communications at DFI’s 48th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, being held October 31–November 3, in Seattle. 

When it comes to quiz shows, no one has done it better than Jennings. The former Utah software engineer rose to fame in 2004 when he spent six months as a contestant on Jeopardy! His 75-game streak and $2.52 million in winnings are still Jeopardy! records today.

In 2020, he was named the show’s “Greatest of All Time” after winning a prime-time tournament against legendary champs James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter and earned an additional $1 million. In 2022, he signed on as permanent co-host for the show with Mayim Bialik.

In the wake of Jennings’ life-changing Jeopardy! reign, he appeared on TV shows from The Tonight Show to The Simpsons and Sesame Street. Barbara Walters named him one of the 10 most interesting people of the year. Jennings is the author of 13 books, including New York Times bestsellers like Maphead, about geography obsessives, and Because I Said So!, debunking parenting myths. His most recent book, 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife, will be published this summer. He currently stars on ABC’s hit game show The Chase, as well as Master Minds on GSN, and co-hosts the twice-weekly podcast Omnibus.

The Hal Hunt Lecture was established in 1989. The lecture was named in honor of Hal W. Hunt, one of the initial organizers of DFI. From inception to 2014, notable communicators in the deep foundations industry were awarded this honor to provide presentations at DFI’s conference each year. Beginning with DFI’s 40th Anniversary Conference in 2015, celebrities with inspirational and motivating stories have been invited to deliver the lecture.

More information on the DFI Annual Conference is available at www.dfi.org/Annual2023.

About the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI)

DFI (www.dfi.org) is an international association of contractors, engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, academics and owners in the deep foundations industry. Our multidisciplinary membership creates a consensus voice and a common vision for continual improvement in the planning, design and construction of deep foundations and excavations. We bring together members for networking, education, communication and collaboration. With our members, we promote the advancement of the deep foundations industry through technical committees, educational programs and conferences, publications, research, government relations and outreach. DFI has more than 4,000 members worldwide.