Cuesta College Educator Selected for Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowship by Television Academy Foundation

Cuesta College and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo journalism professor Jeremy Shermak, Ph.D. has been selected for an Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowship by the Television Academy Foundation in Hollywood. He is one of 18 professors selected from colleges and universities nationwide for the 2025 fellowship program.

Since 2021, the Foundation has offered Alex Trebek Legacy Fellowships, established by the Harry & Judy Friedman Family Foundation, in honor of the late television icon and Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, which provide financial support for educators from community colleges and minority-serving institutions to attend its annual Media Educators Conference. The three-day conference, held at the Television Academy’s North Hollywood campus in California Oct. 22-24, connects college classrooms with the television industry by providing media professors with curriculum-enhancing seminars on the latest in the art, science and business of television with prominent leaders in entertainment.

Shermak is a journalism educator, researcher and media advisor committed to preparing the next generation of storytellers. He teaches journalism at Cuesta College and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where his courses include multimedia reporting, digital media and student newspaper production. He also advises "The Cuestonian", Cuesta’s student-run news outlet.

Shermak earned his Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin where his dissertation examined how broadcast meteorologists use social media when weather becomes political. His research has been published in Digital Journalism, E-Learning and Digital Media, and Gateway Journalism Review, focusing on how journalists and audiences engage with technology, politics and culture.

Beyond academia, Shermak has professional experience as a reporter and editor; and he has overseen award-winning student media as general manager of Columbia College Chicago’s student-run media outlets.