Eric Monkman

{{Short description|Canadian academic and television personality}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2022}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

{{Infobox scientist

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|7|4}}

| birth_place = Oakville, Ontario, Canada

| name = Eric Monkman

| image =

| caption =

| alma_mater = University of Waterloo
Wolfson College, Cambridge

| workplaces =

}}

Eric Monkman (born {{circa|1987}}){{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/university-challenge-final-eric-monkman-wolfson-college-cambridge-jeremy-paxman-a7677406.html | title=Who is Eric Monkman? All you need to know about the University Challenge finalist|date=10 April 2017| first=Rachael | last=Pells| newspaper=The Independent |access-date=22 September 2018}} is a Canadian academic and television personality based in the United Kingdom.

Monkman comes from Oakville, Ontario, Canada. His father, a doctor, died when Eric was thirteen. Monkman obtained his first degree from the University of Waterloo{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/04/10/didnt-know-eric-monkman/|date=10 April 2017|title=Quizzing, canoeing and family tragedy: 10 things you didn't know about University Challenge finalist Eric Monkman| newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | first=Alice | last=Vincent|access-date=22 September 2018}} and then studied for a master's degree in economics at Wolfson College, Cambridge, when he captained the college's University Challenge team. The team lost in the 2017 final to a team from Balliol College, Oxford.{{cite news| url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/17/who-are-eric-monkman-and-bobby-seagull-and-how-are-they-best-known-7951457/ | title=Who are Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull and how are they best known? | first=Caroline | last=Westbrook |date=17 September 2018| newspaper=Metro }}

His girlfriend, Jiang Na teaches law at Beijing Normal University. Viewers described him as the most intense contestant ever: a reviewer called him an "unexpected hero".