Jorge Cham

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Panamaian-born cartoonist (born 1976)

title: "Jorge Cham" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-webcomic-creators", "living-people", "stanford-university-alumni", "georgia-tech-alumni", "1976-births", "california-institute-of-technology-faculty", "panamanian-people-of-chinese-descent", "21st-century-american-engineers", "roboticists", "articles-containing-video-clips", "american-comics-artists", "american-comics-writers"] description: "Panamaian-born cartoonist (born 1976)" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Cham" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Panamaian-born cartoonist (born 1976) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox scientist"]

FieldValue
nameJorge Cham
birth_nameJorge Gabriel Cham
imageJorge Cham (25785358948).jpg
captionCham in 2018
birth_date
birth_placeBocas Town, Bocas del Toro, Panama
death_date
resting_place_coordinates
alma_mater{{Plainlist
thesis_titleOn performance and stability in open-loop running
thesis_urlhttp://bdml.stanford.edu/twiki/pub/Rise/ClimbingRobotAlumni/cham_thesis.pdf
thesis_year2002
doctoral_advisorMark Cutkosky
known_forCartoon work - Piled Higher and Deeper
Podcast - Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe
spouse
partner
signature
website
::

| name = Jorge Cham | birth_name = Jorge Gabriel Cham | native_name_lang = | image = Jorge Cham (25785358948).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Cham in 2018 | birth_date = | birth_place = Bocas Town, Bocas del Toro, Panama | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | residence = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = | workplaces = | patrons = | education = | alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (B.S.)
  • Stanford University (PhD)}} | thesis_title = On performance and stability in open-loop running | thesis_url = http://bdml.stanford.edu/twiki/pub/Rise/ClimbingRobotAlumni/cham_thesis.pdf | thesis_year = 2002 | doctoral_advisor = Mark Cutkosky | academic_advisors = | notable_students = | known_for = Cartoon work - Piled Higher and Deeper Podcast - Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe | influences = | influenced = | awards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/PhD_Comics_Open_Access_Week_2012.ogv" caption="A PhD Comics special on the occasion of [[Open Access Week]] 2012"] ::

Jorge Gabriel Cham () (born 1976) is an engineer-turned cartoonist, writer and producer, who writes the web comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD Comics). Cham was born in Panama and lives in the United States, where he started drawing PhD Comics as a graduate student at Stanford University. He has since been syndicated in several university newspapers and in six published book collections.{{cite web |url = http://www.phdcomics.com/book.htm |title = The "Piled Higher and Deeper" Book Collections |access-date = 2019-08-25 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233722/http://www.phdcomics.com/book.htm |archive-date = 2007-09-27 He was featured on NPR on December 20, 2010. With physicist Daniel Whiteson, he is the coauthor of We Have No Idea (2017), a book about unsolved problems in physics. In September 2018, Cham and Whiteson debuted the podcast Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, produced by iHeartMedia, in which the hosts aim to explain popular questions and complex topics about science, technology, and the universe, in the simplest way possible. In October 2024 the podcast ended as co-hosts Whiteson and Cham decided to pursue separate projects.{{cite tweet | user = DanielandJorge | number = 1843687858709901373 | title = So long, and thanks for all of the chocolate! D&J Explain the Universe is no longer making new episodes. But you're invited to join Daniel and Kelly on their new podcast! @DandKUniverse. | date = 2024-10-08 | url = https://x.com/DanielandJorge/status/1843687858709901373 | access-date = 2024-10-27

Cham co-created the PBS Kids animated series Elinor Wonders Why, which premiered in September 2020.

Early life and education

Jorge Cham was born and raised in Panama to parents working in the Panama Canal Zone as engineers for the United States Government. He received his B.S. from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1997,{{cite web | url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/win06/pacesetters.html | title=Pacesetters: Piled High | publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association | access-date=2007-02-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028082908/http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/win06/pacesetters.html | archive-date=2007-10-28 | url-status=dead |url = http://www.phdcomics.com/about.htm |title = About PhD Comics |access-date = 2006-08-13 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061019013754/http://www.phdcomics.com/about.htm |archive-date = 2006-10-19 |url = http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/~jgcham/research.html |title = Jorge Cham's Research |access-date = 2006-08-13 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070227121024/http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/%7Ejgcham/research.html |archive-date = 2007-02-27

Cartoonist

In 2005, Cham became a full time cartoonist and began an invited speaking tour of major universities delivering his talk titled "The Power of Procrastination". In this lecture, Cham talks about his experiences creating the comic strip and examines the sources of grad students' anxieties. He also explores the guilt and the myths associated with procrastination and argues that in many cases it is actually a good thing.{{cite web |url = http://www.phdcomics.com/speaking.htm |title = Jorge Cham's Speaking Tour |access-date = 2007-02-26 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050714021314/http://www.phdcomics.com/speaking.htm |archive-date = 2005-07-14

In 2012, Cham wrote and produced The PHD Movie, an independent feature-length film based on his comics. The film featured real researchers and academics and was screened at over 500 universities and research centers worldwide. In 2015, Cham wrote and produced The PHD Movie: Still in Grad School, a sequel to the first film, which also screened worldwide. He also illustrated the book Scientific Paper Writing: A Survival Guide (2015) by Bodil Holst.

Cham has also had six collections of his comics published, with the most recent one — a 20th-anniversary edition — backed by more than $234,000 in pledges on Kickstarter.

His book We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe, with physicist Daniel Whiteson, has been translated to over 23 languages, was a Der Spiegel Best-seller, and was awarded the Wen Jin National Book Award in China.

Cham is also the co-creator of Elinor Wonders Why, a show on PBS Kids that is based on Cham's daughter. The series premiered on September 7, 2020. He is the co-owner of Shoe Ink, which produces the Elinor Wonders Why series and That's So Interesting, a live-action short form series hosted by Cham and featuring characters from Elinor Wonders Why itself.

References

References

  1. (2009). "Piled Higher and Deeper: The Everyday Life of a Grad Student". Science.
  2. (22 July 2011). "The Joke Is on the Ph.D.". The New York Times.
  3. (2012). "Jorge G. Cham homepage at Stanford". Stanford University.
  4. [http://www.ibiology.org/ibiomagazine/issue-2/jorge-cham-creating-phd-comics.html Jorge Cham interview: "Creating PhDComics"]
  5. Ruben, Adam. (2010-09-09). "Three Books For Surviving Graduate School". NPR.
  6. (2017). "We have no idea : a guide to the unknown universe". Riverhead Books.
  7. (2018-09-25). "A Cartoonist and Physicist Team Up to Explain the Universe in New Science Podcast".
  8. [https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-kids-announces-new-series-elinor-wonders-why-premiering-september-7-2020/ Announcement: "PBS KIDS Announces New Series ELINOR WONDERS WHY"]
  9. (March 2009). "Jorge Cham: Piled higher and deeper".
  10. (15 May 2013). "Jorge Cham: The Overeducated Cartoonist". L.A. Weekly.
  11. Cham, Jorge Gabriel. (2002). "On performance and stability in open-loop running". Stanford University.
  12. (2002). "Fast and Robust: Hexapedal Robots via Shape Deposition Manufacturing". The International Journal of Robotics Research.
  13. (2001). "Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164)".
  14. "Home".
  15. (16 September 2011). "PhD Comics hits the big screen". Nature.
  16. (21 June 2012). "Piled too high". Nature.
  17. (17 June 2014). "PHD comics' Jorge Cham on misery, hope and academia". Wired Magazine.
  18. (10 September 2015). "Q&A: The academic satirist". Nature.
  19. (30 October 2015). "Revenge of the Non-Nerds". The New York Times.
  20. Krämer, Katrina. (10 May 2016). "Review of ''Scientific Paper Writing: A Survival Guide''". Chemistry World.
  21. "We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe".
  22. "Der Spiegel Best Seller List May 2018".
  23. "The 14th Wenjin Book Award is announced".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

american-webcomic-creatorsliving-peoplestanford-university-alumnigeorgia-tech-alumni1976-birthscalifornia-institute-of-technology-facultypanamanian-people-of-chinese-descent21st-century-american-engineersroboticistsarticles-containing-video-clipsamerican-comics-artistsamerican-comics-writers