Difference between revisions of "Eric Mukherjee"

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{{Infobox|Name = Eric Mukherjee
 
{{Infobox|Name = Eric Mukherjee
 
|Image = Eric2.jpg
 
|Image = Eric2.jpg
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|Subjects = General, History, Science
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|Subjects = General, History, Science, Mythology, and Comic Books
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|schoolcur = [[University of Pennsylvania]] (2010-)
+
|schoolcur = Retired
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|schoolpast = Brown
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|schoolpast = [[Brown]] (2007-2009), [[University of Pennsylvania]] (2010-2018)
 
|highschool = Washburn Rural High School
 
|highschool = Washburn Rural High School
 
| }}
 
| }}
  
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'''Eric Mukherjee''' played as an undergraduate at Brown and is currently an MD-PhD student at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. He's often considered the best overall science player ever, and is also known for his love of 20th-century history, mythology, and art.
+
'''Eric Mukherjee''' is a [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20041023/ai_n11820126 multiple-choice genius] and [http://www.browndailyherald.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=ba5c7fce-fd01-47fd-bf2b-389cfb10293f political dissident]. Eric is the best biology and chemistry player in the history of the game and is often considered the best overall science player ever [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8259&p=143811&hilit]. Eric played as an undergraduate at Brown helping them to several second place finishes at [[ACF Nationals]] and led the Penn team for several years as an MD-PhD student.  
  
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==Career==
+
After nine years of serious play and individual distinction without any national titles (including close 2nd-place finishes every year from 2007 through 2010), Eric finally led the winning team at [[2015 ACF Nationals]]. Eric has also been [http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=18925#p320008 acknowledged] as  "the single most sought-after [[Chicago Open|CO]] teammate," having been a key player on the winning teams in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2016 (having edited in 2015 and not played in 2011 or 2017), taking second place in 2009 and 2013.
  
−
===Brown===
+
==Playing Career==
  
−
While at Brown, Eric won several 2nd place finishes at ACF Nationals on teams led by [[Jerry Vinokurov]], and with Jerry, [[Matt Weiner]], and [[Jonathan Magin]] won IO 2007 and [[Chicago Open]] 2008. He notably did not attend either national in 2009 due to medical school interviews.
+
===Undergraduate===
  
−
===Penn===
+
Eric was previously a student at Brown, where he served as vice president of the club after randomly running into [[Jerry Vinokurov]] in the mailroom. Despite invariably getting dragged into Jerry's crazy transportation schemes, he respectfully referred/refers to him as "fearless leader"; the pair formed a solid one-two punch. He helped the team to two 2nd place finishes at ACF nationals and high finishes elsewhere.
  
−
After beginning an MD-PhD program, Eric significantly decreased his playing time, but managed to win 2nd place at 2010 ICT before missing most of 2011. Since then, he has led Penn to several top bracket finishes from 2012 to present, including most notably a 2nd place finish at [[2015 ICT]] and a victory at [[2015 ACF Nationals]]. Eric was also on the winning team of [[Chicago Open]] 2012, and 2014, and won second place in 2009.
+
He is known for maintaining his good humor under most circumstances; notable exceptions include the Boston mirror of [[Moon Pie 2007]], where he and teammate [[Dennis Jang]], a model of level-headedness, almost spontaneously combusted due to the sheer amount of [[funn]].  The experience gave him a burning desire to not only get revenge on [[MIT|MIT A]], but also write a good tournament to erase the memory.  He accomplished both at [[Deep Bench|Deep Bench 2007 at Brandeis]] and with [[EFT2]], respectively. 
 +
 
 +
His junior and senior year also saw several notable victories (mainly a 2nd place finish at ACF Nationals 2008), though he was forced to miss both nationals his senior year due to interviews. During that time, he managed to win [[Chicago Open|Chicago Open 2008]] on a team with [[Matt Weiner]], [[Jerry Vinokurov]], and [[Jonathan Magin]] and placed 2nd in [[Chicago Open|CO 2009]] with [[Ted Gioia]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Jerry Vinokurov]] while tying Vinokurov in scoring in the latter instance.
 +
 
 +
===Graduate===
 +
 
 +
His initial year at Penn saw a decrease in his playing time, but he managed to chock up some impressive wins while leading Penn to a second place finish at the [[2010 ICT]]. After spending the 2011 nationals season within the death grip of a hospital ward (as a student, not a patient), he returned to active competition in 2012, leading a team of [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Patrick Liao]], and [[James Lasker]] - two freshmen and a sophomore - to a 4th place finish at [[2012 ACF Nationals]].
 +
 
 +
The intervening years saw several high-top-bracket finishes for Penn A, with no finals appearances. The acquisition of [[Dallas Simons]] led Penn to more high finishes over the next two years, though Simons was later replaced by geography/CE specialist [[Chris Chiego]] for the 2014-15 season. After much focused studying and with key contributions from all four players, Penn A managed to make it to the finals of both national tournaments in 2015, winning [[ACF Nationals]] against strong teams from Chicago, UVA, Stanford, Maryland, and Michigan.
 +
 
 +
After 2015, Eric continued leading a team of [[Jaimie Carlson]], [[Jinah Kim]], [[Paul Lee]], [[Max Smiley]], [[Aidan Mehigan]] and others to several victories at invitationals and high-level finishes at nationals. In his final year of eligibility, he led Penn to a 4th place finish at [[2018 ICT]] (with [[Jaimie Carlson]], [[Jinah Kim]], and [[Aidan Mehigan]]) and to 2nd place at [[2018 ACF Nationals]] (with [[Jaimie Carlson]], [[Jinah Kim]], and freshman [[Nitin Rao]]), the latter after winning two thrilling games (against [[Columbia]], then a short-handed [[Yale]]) in a three-way tie for second place and handing 1st place [[Chicago]] its only loss.
 +
 
 +
Apart from his leadership of Penn A, Eric also contributed to winning teams at [[Chicago Open]] 2012, 2014, and 2016, with the 2014 win helping UVA complete their [[Triple Crown]].
 +
 
 +
After completing his MD-PhD degree, Eric is currently continuing his training at [[Vanderbilt]] as a dermatology resident, where he continues to read and write as much as possible, with the occasional appearance at open tournaments and side events as time permits.
  
 
===Writing===
 
===Writing===
  
−
Eric's writing career began with his editing of EFT 2007, with [[Dennis Jang]] and [[Jerry Vinokurov]]. Since then, he's edited multiple iterations of [[EFT]], [[Penn Bowl]], and [[Lederberg]] and has contributed to NHBB, HSAPQ, and ACF tournaments intermittently. He currently plans to write [[MSTP]] before graduating, a tournament inspired by his time in medical school.
+
Eric is one of the best--and most sought after--science writers in contemporary quizbowl. He served as the head editor for the [[Lederberg Memorial Science]] and its sequel, was a co-editor of the [[2009 ACF Regionals]], and edited science for the 2007 [[Chicago Open]], [[Gaddis|Gaddis II]], [[The Emergency]], several iterations of [[Penn Bowl]] and [[PACE NSC]], and 2015 [[Chicago Open]].
 +
 
 +
His writing outside of science has often been overlooked, but he has been one of the most important writers of accessible tournaments; he edited several successful incarnations of the Early Fall Tournament by nitpicking every question to death, was the driving force behind the second iteration of [[THUNDER]], and several editions of [[Penn Bowl]], despite his best efforts to try to hand Penn Bowl off to the next generation of Penn students. However, his writing has also often featured vanity trash questions on comic books, deep cuts from the Star Wars expanded universe, and similar "geek trash" interests.
 +
 
 +
Eric was also the central figure in the [[5th of March Incident]], and subsequently (with [[Matt Jackson]]) helped edit NHBB's national tournaments in 2015. He has occasionally contributed to NHBB, PACE, and HSAPQ since then.
 +
 
 +
== Nicknames/Appellations ==
 +
*DE
 +
*Dark Eric
 +
*Mukherjee
 +
*Lord Eric Mukherjee
 +
*Mukherjesus
 +
 
 +
== Writing/Editing Work ==
 +
 
 +
===College===
 +
 
 +
*[[Chicago Open]] - Biology and Chemistry (2007), Co-Head Editor (2015), Contributor (2011, 2013, 2018)
 +
*[[EFT]] - Co-Head Editor (2007, 2008), Contributor/Editor (2009, 2010)
 +
*[[Titanomachy]] - Biology and Chemistry
 +
*[[TIT|TIT 2008]] - Biology and Chemistry
 +
*[[2008 Wallace Stevens Memorial Literature Singles]]
 +
*[[2008 Chicago Open Literature Singles]]
 +
*[[The Emergency]] - Biology and Chemistry
 +
*[[2009 ACF Regionals]] - Co-Head Editor
 +
*[[Gaddis|Gaddis II]] - Science
 +
*[[Lederberg Memorial Science]] 1-3 - Head Editor
 +
*[[THUNDER]] I and II - Science, Visual Art, Mythology, World History
 +
*[[ACF Winter|2010 ACF Winter]] - Science Editor
 +
*[[Minnesota Open|2011 Minnesota Open]] - Science Editor
 +
*[[Penn-ance]] - Head Editor
 +
*[[VCU Closed]] - Science Editor
 +
*[[Penn Bowl]] - Head Editor (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), Science Editor (2011, 2018, 2019)
 +
*[[3M]] History Tournament
 +
*[[Historature]] - Contributor
 +
*[[Spartan Housewrite]] - Biology and Chemistry
 +
*[[CAST]] - Science, World History, Mythology
 +
 
 +
===High School===
 +
*[[PACE NSC]] - Head Editor (2012, 2013), Contributor (2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018)
 +
*[[HSAPQ]] (formerly)
 +
*[[NHBB]] - Editor, Regional A-Set and Nationals sets (2015), sporadic contributor after
 +
*[[IHO]] - Editor, Cold War History event (2016), History of STEM event (2018)
 +
*[[NASAT]] - Head Editor (2018), contributor in almost every other year
 +
*[[NAQT]] - Writer
 +
 
 +
===Forthcoming===
 +
 
 +
*[[MSTP]] - Head Editor
 +
*[[Michigan Housewrite]] - Biology and Chemistry
  
 +
== Tournament Results ==
 +
*[[2019 PIANO]] JHU Mirror - 3rd place (with [[Will Alston]], [[Fred Zhang]], and [[James Kuang]])
 +
*[[2018 ACF Nationals]] - 2nd place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Nitin Rao]])
 +
*[[2018 ICT]] - 4th place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Aidan Mehigan]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2018 ACF Regionals]] - 1st place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Paul Lee]])
 +
*[[EFT|2017 EFT]] - 1st place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Aidan Mehigan]])
 +
*[[Oxford Academic Tournament|2017 OAT]] - 1st place (with [[Will Alston]], [[Paul Lee]], and [[Max Smiley]])
 +
*[[2017 ACF Nationals]] - 7th place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Paul Lee]])
 +
*[[This Tournament is a Crime|2017 This Tournament is a Crime]] - 1st place (with [[Chris Ray]], [[Clark Smith]], and [[Athena Kern]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2017 ACF Regionals]] - 4th place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Max Smiley]])
 +
*[[Terrapin|2016 Terrapin]] - 1st place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Max Smiley]])
 +
*[[2016 Chicago Open]] - 1st place (with [[Jordan Brownstein]], [[Will Nediger]], and [[Jacob Reed]])
 +
*[[AVOGADROS NUMBER]] - 1st place (with [[James Bradbury]], [[Austin Brownlow]], and [[Sam Bailey]]), top scorer
 +
*[[2016 ICT]] - 7th place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Max Smiley]])
 +
*[[2016 Stanford Housewrite]] - 3rd place (with [[Will Alston]], [[Ike Jose]], and [[Jason Golfinos]])
 +
*[[SCT|2016 SCT]] - 2nd place (with [[Jinah Kim]], [[Jaimie Carlson]], and [[Max Smiley]])
 +
*[[2015 Missouri Open]] - 5th place (with [[Max Smiley]], [[Jinah Kim]], and [[Ben Cushing]])
 +
*[[2015 ACF Nationals]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Chris Chiego]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2015 ICT]] - 2nd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Chris Chiego]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[George Oppen|2015 George Oppen]] - 4th place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Chris Chiego]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[SCT|2015 SCT]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Chris Chiego]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2015 ACF Regionals]] - 3rd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Chris Chiego]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*2014 [[PADAWAN]] - 2nd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Chris Chiego]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2014 VCU Open Sunday]] - 1st place (with [[John Lawrence]], [[Matt Jackson]], [[Evan Adams]])
 +
*[[2014 VCU Open Saturday]] - 1st place (with [[Matt Bollinger]], [[Aaron Rosenberg]], and [[Chris Manners]])
 +
*[[2014 Chicago Open]] - 1st place (with [[Matt Bollinger]], [[Evan Adams]], and [[Tommy Casalaspi]])
 +
*[[2014 ACF Nationals]] - 3rd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2014 College History Bowl]] - 3rd place (with [[David Ferguson]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2014 ICT]] - 3rd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2014 ACF Regionals]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[SCT|2014 SCT]] - 1st place (with [[Barrett Block]], [[David Ferguson]], [[Max Li Walter Isenberg]])
 +
*[[2014 SUBMIT]] - 2nd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[David Xu]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2013 DRAGOON]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[Michigan Fall Tournament|2013 Michigan Fall Tournament]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]] and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2013 Chicago Open]] - T-2nd place (with [[Matt Weiner]], [[Doug Graebner]], and [[Marshall Steinbaum]])
 +
*[[2013 ICT]] - 3rd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2013 ACF Nationals]] - 4th place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2013 ACF Regionals]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[SCT|2013 SCT]] - 2nd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2012 QUARK]] - 1st place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Dallas Simons]], and [[Patrick Liao]])
 +
*[[2012 KABO]] - 1st place (with [[Matt Weiner]], [[Ted Gioia]], and [[Cody Voight]])
 +
*[[2012 Chicago Open]] - 1st place (with [[Matt Bollinger]], [[John Lawrence]], and [[Chris Ray]])
 +
*[[2012 ACF Nationals]] - 4th place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Patrick Liao]], [[James Lasker]], and [[Samuel Passaglia]]), 3rd scorer
 +
*[[2012 ICT]] - 11th place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Patrick Liao]], [[James Lasker]], and [[Samuel Passaglia]]), 3rd scorer
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2012 ACF Regionals]] - 3rd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Patrick Liao]], [[James Lasker]], and [[Samuel Passaglia]]), 1st scorer
 +
*[[SCT|2012 SCT Mid-Atlantic]] - 2nd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Patrick Liao]], [[Samuel Passaglia]], and [[Jon Moller]])
 +
*[[MAGNI|2011 MAGNI]] - 3rd place (with [[Saajid Moyen]], [[Patrick Liao]], and [[James Lasker]])
 +
*[[TIT|2011 TIT Northeast Mirror]] - 1st place (with [[Linna Duan]] and rotating Yale freshmen)
 +
*[[VCU Open|2011 VCU Open]] - 1st place (with [[Ted Gioia]], [[Chris Ray]], and [[Ike Jose]])
 +
*[[Chicago Open|2010 Chicago Open]] - 4th place (with [[Rob Carson]], [[Trevor Davis]], and [[John Lawrence]])
 +
*[[2010 ACF Nationals]] - Tied for 5th place (with [[Sam Brown]], [[Sid Chandrasekar]], [[Chris White]], and [[Mehdi Razvi]])
 +
*[[2010 ICT]] - 2nd place (with [[Sam Brown]], [[Sid Chandrasekar]], and [[Chris White]])
 +
*[[Harvard International|2010 Harvard International]] - 2nd place (with [[Chris Ray]], [[Hannah Kirsch]], and [[Andrew Lim]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|2010 ACF Regionals]] at Maryland - 1st place (with [[Sam Brown]], [[Sid Chandrasekar]], and [[Chris White]])
 +
*[[SCT|2010 SCT]] at Maryland - 2nd place (with [[Sam Brown]], [[Sid Chandrasekar]], and [[Chris White]])
 +
*[[TIT|2009 TIT]] 2.0 - 2nd place (with [[Sam Brown]], [[Sid Chandrasekar]], and [[Chris White]])
 +
*[[2009 FIST]] Harvard Mirror - 2nd place (with [[Ted Gioia]], [[Bruce Arthur]], and [[Dallas Simons]])
 +
*[[Minnesota Open|2009 Minnesota Open]] - 1st place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Guy Tabachnick]])
 +
*[[VCU Open|2009 VCU Open]] - 2nd place (with [[Chris Ray]], [[Ike Jose]], and sometimes [[Evan Adams]]), 3rd scorer
 +
*[[Chicago Open|2009 Chicago Open]] - 2nd place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Ted Gioia]], and [[Dallas Simons]]), 8th scorer
 +
*[[2009 Missouri Open]] Maryland mirror - 1st place (with [[Ted Gioia]], [[Dan Puma]], and [[Dallas Simons]]), 3rd scorer
 +
*[[SCT|2009 SCT]] northeast - 1st place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], and [[Daniel Klein]]), 3rd scorer
 +
*[[HIPPIE]] ([[2009 MUT]] mirror at [[Hampshire College]]) - 1st place (with [[Linna Duan]])
 +
*[[TIT|2009 TIT]] - 1st place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]])
 +
*[[Minnesota Open|2008 Minnesota Open]] MIT Mirror - 1st place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]]), 3rd scorer
 +
*[[ACF Winter|2009 ACF Winter]] Northeast - 1st place (with [[Aaron Rosenberg]]), 1st scorer
 +
*[[Penn Bowl|2009 Penn Bowl]] - 2nd place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Daniel Klein]], [[Aaron Rosenberg]], and [[Dennis Jang]])
 +
*[[2009 ACF Fall]] Northeast - 1st place (with [[Aaron Rosenberg]], [[Dennis Jang]], and [[Daniel Klein]]), 1st scorer
 +
*[[2008 Chicago Open]] - 1st place (with [[Jonathan Magin]], [[Matt Weiner]], and [[Jerry Vinokurov]]), tied for 6th scorer
 +
*[[2008 ACF Nationals]] at Brandeis - 2nd place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], and [[Aaron Rosenberg]]), 12th scorer
 +
*[[2008 ICT]] at WashU - 4th place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], and [[Aaron Rosenberg]])
 +
*[[FICHTE|FICHTE 2008]] at Maryland - 2nd place (with [[Ted Gioia]], [[Shantanu Jha]], and [[Adam Marshall]]), 2nd individual
 +
*[[Matt Cvijanovich Memorial Novice Tournament|Harvard Novice]] - 1st place in solo/duo division (with [[Linna Duan]])
 +
*[[ACF Regionals|ACF Regionals 2008]] - 1st place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], and [[Aaron Rosenberg]])
 +
*[[Bulldogs Over Broadway|BoB 2007]] - 1st place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Jonathan Magin]], and [[Charles Meigs]]), 6th individual
 +
*[[PARFAIT|PARFAIT III]] - 2nd place, [[Mount Vinokurov|aneurysm]] (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]], and [[Lisa Qing]])
 +
*[[Illinois Open|Illinois Open 2007]] - 1st place (As part of "Another Victim of the Maleocentric Maleocracy") [https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/tmeade2/www/io07po_standings.html Stats]
 +
*[[ACF Fall 2007]] - 1st or 2nd place (with [[Aaron Rosenberg]], [[Lisa Qing]], special playoff guest [[Jerry Vinokurov]]), 1st Individual [http://web.mit.edu/collegebowl/www/stats/2007ACFfall/Stats.playoffs_standings.html Stats]
 +
*[[Deep Bench|Deep Bench 2007 Brandeis Mirror]] - 2nd place, 3rd Individual in Quads A [http://www.hsquizbowl.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=61486#61486 Stats]
 +
*[[2007 ACF Nationals|ACF Nationals 2007]] - 2nd place (with [[Jerry Vinokurov]], [[Dennis Jang]]) [http://studentorgs.vanderbilt.edu/college_bowl/ACF_Nats_07_playoff_standings.html Stats]
 +
*[[ACF Regionals 2007]] - 1st place (with [[Micha Elsner]], [[Dennis Jang]], [[Marko Djuric]])
 +
*[[ACF Fall 2006]] - 3rd place (with [[Sofia Pellon]], [[Phil Grice]], [[Marko Djuric]])
  
 
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[[Category: Messianic figures]]
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[[Category: Mukherjews]]
 
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[[Category: Original QBWiki Page]]
 
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[[Category: People]]
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[[Category:Question writers]]

Revision as of 22:07, 8 July 2019

Eric Mukherjee
Eric2.jpg
Noted subjects General, History, Science, Mythology, and Comic Books
Current college Retired
Past colleges Brown (2007-2009), University of Pennsylvania (2010-2018)
High school Washburn Rural High School
Stats HDWhite • NAQT

Eric Mukherjee is a multiple-choice genius and political dissident. Eric is the best biology and chemistry player in the history of the game and is often considered the best overall science player ever [1]. Eric played as an undergraduate at Brown helping them to several second place finishes at ACF Nationals and led the Penn team for several years as an MD-PhD student.

After nine years of serious play and individual distinction without any national titles (including close 2nd-place finishes every year from 2007 through 2010), Eric finally led the winning team at 2015 ACF Nationals. Eric has also been acknowledged as "the single most sought-after CO teammate," having been a key player on the winning teams in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2016 (having edited in 2015 and not played in 2011 or 2017), taking second place in 2009 and 2013.

Playing Career

Undergraduate

Eric was previously a student at Brown, where he served as vice president of the club after randomly running into Jerry Vinokurov in the mailroom. Despite invariably getting dragged into Jerry's crazy transportation schemes, he respectfully referred/refers to him as "fearless leader"; the pair formed a solid one-two punch. He helped the team to two 2nd place finishes at ACF nationals and high finishes elsewhere.

He is known for maintaining his good humor under most circumstances; notable exceptions include the Boston mirror of Moon Pie 2007, where he and teammate Dennis Jang, a model of level-headedness, almost spontaneously combusted due to the sheer amount of funn. The experience gave him a burning desire to not only get revenge on MIT A, but also write a good tournament to erase the memory. He accomplished both at Deep Bench 2007 at Brandeis and with EFT2, respectively.

His junior and senior year also saw several notable victories (mainly a 2nd place finish at ACF Nationals 2008), though he was forced to miss both nationals his senior year due to interviews. During that time, he managed to win Chicago Open 2008 on a team with Matt Weiner, Jerry Vinokurov, and Jonathan Magin and placed 2nd in CO 2009 with Ted Gioia, Dallas Simons, and Jerry Vinokurov while tying Vinokurov in scoring in the latter instance.

Graduate

His initial year at Penn saw a decrease in his playing time, but he managed to chock up some impressive wins while leading Penn to a second place finish at the 2010 ICT. After spending the 2011 nationals season within the death grip of a hospital ward (as a student, not a patient), he returned to active competition in 2012, leading a team of Saajid Moyen, Patrick Liao, and James Lasker - two freshmen and a sophomore - to a 4th place finish at 2012 ACF Nationals.

The intervening years saw several high-top-bracket finishes for Penn A, with no finals appearances. The acquisition of Dallas Simons led Penn to more high finishes over the next two years, though Simons was later replaced by geography/CE specialist Chris Chiego for the 2014-15 season. After much focused studying and with key contributions from all four players, Penn A managed to make it to the finals of both national tournaments in 2015, winning ACF Nationals against strong teams from Chicago, UVA, Stanford, Maryland, and Michigan.

After 2015, Eric continued leading a team of Jaimie Carlson, Jinah Kim, Paul Lee, Max Smiley, Aidan Mehigan and others to several victories at invitationals and high-level finishes at nationals. In his final year of eligibility, he led Penn to a 4th place finish at 2018 ICT (with Jaimie Carlson, Jinah Kim, and Aidan Mehigan) and to 2nd place at 2018 ACF Nationals (with Jaimie Carlson, Jinah Kim, and freshman Nitin Rao), the latter after winning two thrilling games (against Columbia, then a short-handed Yale) in a three-way tie for second place and handing 1st place Chicago its only loss.

Apart from his leadership of Penn A, Eric also contributed to winning teams at Chicago Open 2012, 2014, and 2016, with the 2014 win helping UVA complete their Triple Crown.

After completing his MD-PhD degree, Eric is currently continuing his training at Vanderbilt as a dermatology resident, where he continues to read and write as much as possible, with the occasional appearance at open tournaments and side events as time permits.

Writing

Eric is one of the best--and most sought after--science writers in contemporary quizbowl. He served as the head editor for the Lederberg Memorial Science and its sequel, was a co-editor of the 2009 ACF Regionals, and edited science for the 2007 Chicago Open, Gaddis II, The Emergency, several iterations of Penn Bowl and PACE NSC, and 2015 Chicago Open.

His writing outside of science has often been overlooked, but he has been one of the most important writers of accessible tournaments; he edited several successful incarnations of the Early Fall Tournament by nitpicking every question to death, was the driving force behind the second iteration of THUNDER, and several editions of Penn Bowl, despite his best efforts to try to hand Penn Bowl off to the next generation of Penn students. However, his writing has also often featured vanity trash questions on comic books, deep cuts from the Star Wars expanded universe, and similar "geek trash" interests.

Eric was also the central figure in the 5th of March Incident, and subsequently (with Matt Jackson) helped edit NHBB's national tournaments in 2015. He has occasionally contributed to NHBB, PACE, and HSAPQ since then.

Nicknames/Appellations

  • DE
  • Dark Eric
  • Mukherjee
  • Lord Eric Mukherjee
  • Mukherjesus

Writing/Editing Work

College

High School

  • PACE NSC - Head Editor (2012, 2013), Contributor (2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018)
  • HSAPQ (formerly)
  • NHBB - Editor, Regional A-Set and Nationals sets (2015), sporadic contributor after
  • IHO - Editor, Cold War History event (2016), History of STEM event (2018)
  • NASAT - Head Editor (2018), contributor in almost every other year
  • NAQT - Writer

Forthcoming

Tournament Results

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