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Jorge Cham

Jorge Cham is a Panamanian-born , , and producer best known for creating the webcomic Piled Higher and Deeper (commonly abbreviated as PHD Comics), a satirical series launched in 1997 that humorously chronicles the trials and absurdities of graduate student and academic life, attracting over 6 million visitors annually as of 2017. Born and raised in , Cham pursued in the United States, earning a in from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a followed by a Ph.D. in from . After completing his doctorate, he served as an instructor and research associate at the (Caltech) from 2003 to 2005, during which time he began gaining widespread recognition for his comics. Transitioning from to full-time , Cham co-founded PHDtv, a multimedia platform that extends his comic's themes into videos and animations, and has delivered over 400 invited lectures worldwide on and . His bibliography includes several best-selling titles, such as We Have No Idea: A Guide to Nothingness and Infinity for Everyone (2017, co-authored with physicist Daniel Whiteson), recipient of China's Wenjin , and PHD Comics collections (2001–2010), along with children's books like the Oliver's Great Big Universe series (2023–present). In television, Cham co-created and serves as executive producer of the animated series (premiered 2020), which promotes curiosity and learning for young audiences and has aired in 78 countries, earning a Emmy nomination. Cham has further expanded his science outreach through the iHeartRadio podcast Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, co-hosted with Daniel Whiteson from 2018 to 2024, which demystifies complex topics like black holes and for general listeners. He also produced the feature films The PHD Movie (2011), screened at over 500 locations globally, and its sequel The PHD Movie 2: Still in Grad School (2015), adapting his comics into live-action narratives. Among his accolades, Cham received first place in the 2009 NSF/AAAS Visualization Challenge for his innovative efforts. Currently residing near , , with his family, Cham continues to blend humor and education in ongoing projects, including new books like Out of Your Mind (2024) and media ventures aimed at bridging the gap between scientific research and public understanding.

Early life and education

Early life

Jorge Cham was born in 1976 in , , to a Panamanian family whose members worked in the as engineers for the government. His parents, both engineers, provided a science-oriented household environment that exposed him early to problem-solving and technical fields. Cham's father, in particular, contributed to his cultural exposure by bringing home American comic books from garage sales of U.S. families departing the Canal Zone, which helped Cham learn English during his childhood in the mid-1980s. Growing up in Panama, Cham developed an early fascination with engineering, dreaming of a career involving machines and movement, which he later associated with and . This interest was nurtured by his family's professional background and the technical surroundings of the Canal Zone. Simultaneously, Cham began doodling as a child, copying characters from the comics he read, such as Archie, Snoopy, and Garfield, as a form of self-taught art practice without any professional aspirations at the time. These childhood hobbies—exploring through play and sketching in notebooks—laid informal groundwork for his later pursuits, though they remained casual activities amid his primary focus on engineering. During his adolescence, Cham relocated from to the to pursue , an experience he described as a significant due to the differences in environment and social norms. This transition required adapting to new educational and cultural systems, building on the bilingual foundation from his comic book reading and family influences.

Education

Cham completed high school in Panama before moving to the United States. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1997. Following his bachelor's degree, Cham pursued graduate studies at Stanford University, where he obtained both a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in mechanical engineering, with a specialization in robotics. His PhD, completed in 2003, focused on the performance and stability of open-loop running in robots, inspired by biological locomotion such as that of cockroaches. The thesis explored engineering challenges in designing simple, robust robotic systems for fast movement without feedback control, addressing issues like dynamic stability and energy efficiency in legged robots.

Scientific career

Graduate research

Jorge Cham conducted his graduate research in at from 1997 to 2003, focusing on biomimetic robotics and the development of legged robots capable of dynamic locomotion in challenging environments. His work emphasized open-loop control strategies for hexapedal robots, drawing inspiration from insect gaits to enable robust running without feedback mechanisms. This approach aimed to address limitations in traditional closed-loop systems, which often require complex sensors and computations that could fail in hazardous settings like disaster zones or extraterrestrial terrains. Cham's research contributed to advancements in shape deposition manufacturing (SDM), a technique that integrates compliant materials, sensors, and actuators into monolithic robot limbs for enhanced durability and performance. A key from Cham's dissertation was a hexapedal running fabricated using SDM, featuring six s with variable to mimic cockroach-like bounding gaits. The achieved forward speeds of over four body lengths per second and demonstrated over uneven surfaces through passive dynamics and , where trajectories were pre-programmed based on biomechanical models. Experiments involved high-speed video of the 's motion, revealing that strategic in design reduced energy loss and improved during impacts. These highlighted the potential of bio-inspired designs for autonomous devices, prioritizing and reliability over computational intensity. Cham addressed technical challenges such as maintaining in open-loop running, where external perturbations could lead to falls; he mitigated this by optimizing touchdown angles and profiles. Cham presented his findings through several seminal publications during his period, including work on robust dynamic via feedforward-preflex interactions, which explored combining ballistic motions with reflexive adjustments for energy-efficient running. His , "On and in Open-Loop Running," synthesized these efforts, providing analytical models for predicting margins and metrics like stride frequency and duty factors. These contributions underscored the methodologies for scaling biomimetic principles to practical robotic systems, influencing subsequent in legged . The iterative prototyping process in Cham's graduate work also involved overcoming hurdles in SDM, such as micro-actuators without compromising structural integrity, which demanded precise and techniques.

Postdoctoral work

Following his in from , Jorge Cham served as an Instructor and Research Associate at the (Caltech) from 2003 to 2005. In this role, he contributed to advanced engineering research while also teaching courses in areas such as creativity, engineering design, and kinematics. Cham’s postdoctoral projects at Caltech centered on neural prosthetics and . His work on neural prosthetics involved developing interfaces to record and interpret neural signals, aimed at enabling brain-machine interactions for medical applications. Additionally, he advanced through projects like designing six-legged robots modeled after cockroaches, which emphasized rapid locomotion and stability for potential studies in and environments. During his time at Caltech, Cham collaborated with faculty on interdisciplinary efforts integrating hardware and software, including grants and publications focused on neural interfaces. A representative example is his co-authorship on the 2006 paper "A new multi-site probe array with monolithically integrated parylene flexible cables for neural prostheses," which detailed innovations in flexible arrays for high-fidelity neural recording, co-authored with researchers including Joel Burdick and Richard Andersen. These efforts built on hardware-software synergies to enhance prosthetic reliability and autonomy. By 2005, Cham found it increasingly difficult to balance the rigorous demands of his academic research with the expanding reach of his cartooning work, leading to and prompting his decision to leave for full-time pursuit of through PHD Comics.

Media and creative career

PHD Comics

PHD Comics, formally titled Piled Higher and Deeper, was created by Jorge Cham in 1997 during his time as a graduate student in at , with the first strip published on October 27 of that year. Initially distributed through print in university newspapers like The Stanford Daily and shared via email lists among academic communities, the comic began as a student project inspired by Cham's own experiences in graduate school. This grassroots approach allowed it to spread organically within Stanford and nearby institutions such as and Caltech, fostering early recognition for its witty take on academic life. The core themes of PHD Comics revolve around the humorous portrayal of graduate student challenges, capturing the absurdities of writing anxiety, awkward advisor-student dynamics, and the perpetual struggle for work-life balance in research environments. Strips often feature recurring characters like the procrastinating and his peers, exaggerating real-world frustrations such as endless revisions, woes, and mishaps to provide and camaraderie for readers. Cham's background in at Stanford informed these depictions, blending technical accuracy with to highlight the emotional toll of . Over nearly three decades, PHD Comics evolved into a prominent online platform, amassing over 2,000 strips by 2018, after which it went on hiatus. It achieved syndication in leading scientific publications including and , alongside more than 50 university newspapers globally. This expansion marked its transition from a niche campus feature to a cultural staple for scientists, with millions of annual website visits underscoring its broad appeal. The series' enduring format—typically three-panel strips—has sustained its relevance through its archive. Cham adapted the comics into live-action feature films, producing The PHD Movie (2011), screened at over 500 locations worldwide, and its sequel The PHD Movie 2: Still in Academia (2015). The of PHD Comics shifted in the 2000s from a freely accessible to a multifaceted enterprise, incorporating merchandise such as apparel, posters, and custom cartoons sold through an online store. By the , revenue streams diversified to include speaking fees from nearly 300 lectures at universities and conferences worldwide since 2005, as well as licensing agreements for academic uses, requiring permission via direct inquiry. This evolution enabled Cham to support the ongoing production while maintaining the comic's accessibility to its primary audience of students and researchers.

Books and television

Jorge Cham has expanded his creative output beyond webcomics into several book publications that adapt and extend themes from his work. In 2017, he co-authored We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe with Daniel Whiteson, an illustrated guide that humorously explores fundamental mysteries in physics, such as and the nature of time, using and infographics to make concepts accessible to general audiences. Cham has also published multiple anthologies collecting strips from PHD Comics, beginning with Piled Higher and Deeper: A Graduate Student Collection in 2001, which compile hundreds of panels depicting academic life, with later volumes like the 20th Anniversary edition in 2017 including essays on the strip's evolution. In the realm of children's literature, Cham launched the Oliver's Great Big Universe series in 2023, a STEM-focused collection aimed at young readers to foster curiosity about through diary-style narratives and illustrations. The inaugural , Oliver's Great Big Universe, follows an 11-year-old navigating challenges while discovering astronomical wonders, blending humor with educational insights into natural phenomena. Subsequent entries, such as Volcanoes Are Hot! released in 2024 and Changes Everything! in 2025, continue this approach by tackling topics like and in an engaging, relatable format for elementary-aged children. Cham has also ventured into television production as co-creator and executive producer of the PBS Kids animated series , which debuted in September 2020 and targets preschoolers with episodes centered on curiosity-driven scientific exploration in a vibrant animal community. Co-developed with Whiteson, the show emphasizes through stories involving observation, experimentation, and problem-solving, drawing inspiration from Cham's comic style to promote engagement among very young viewers. Additionally, Cham has produced animated content extending PHD Comics into short videos and specials via PHD TV, a platform featuring explanatory animations on scientific topics like , often narrated with humor to bridge academic concepts and public understanding. By 2025, some of these efforts, including contributions to , have earned Daytime Emmy nominations for outstanding preschool animated series.

Recognition and influence

Awards and nominations

Jorge Cham has received multiple nominations for the for his work as co-creator and executive producer of the animated series . In 2021, the series was nominated in the Outstanding Preschool Children's Animated Series category, as well as Outstanding Directing Team for a Preschool Animated Program. Additionally, Cham received a nomination in 2021 for his producing work on the PBS documentary The Amazing Dr. . Cham has earned literary recognition for his middle-grade book series Oliver's Great Big Universe. The second volume, Volcanoes Are Hot (2024), was selected as one of the Best Middle-Grade Books of 2024 by , praised for its blend of humor, , and relatable storytelling. The series has also been named a Best Book of the Year by Science Friday and Book Riot. In the , Cham was awarded first place in the Informational of the 2009 NSF/AAAS International and Engineering Visualization Challenge for the comic strip "Brain Development," co-created with Dwayne Godwin, which illustrates the genetic and environmental influences on and development. This honor highlights Cham's ability to make complex neuroscientific concepts accessible to a broad audience. Cham has achieved commercial success with his nonfiction books, including the best-selling We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe (co-authored with Daniel Whiteson), which has been widely acclaimed for demystifying cosmology and particle physics.

Public speaking and impact

Jorge Cham has emerged as a prominent public speaker, delivering over 400 invited lectures worldwide that blend humor with insights into academia and science communication. His presentations often draw on his experiences as a cartoonist and former researcher to demystify the challenges of scientific work, making complex topics accessible to diverse audiences. For instance, at the NORM 2024 conference, Cham gave a plenary talk followed by a screening of The PhD Movie, engaging participants on graduate life through comedic storytelling. In 2025, he participated in the Library of Congress National Book Festival, leading a drawing workshop for children and joining a panel discussion on natural phenomena like volcanoes and spiders, further illustrating his approach to interactive science education. Cham’s Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD Comics) has significantly influenced students and researchers by normalizing the stresses of academic life, including challenges. The strip, which resonates with themes of isolation and pressure, is referenced in scholarly analyses of attitudes, such as a 2023 study examining memes and webcomics as outlets for expressing low mood and high-impact research demands among candidates. With annual pageviews exceeding 69 million and over 1 million unique monthly visitors, the comics reach a vast global audience, providing and validation that fosters community among those in fields. Beyond academia, Cham’s contributions to STEM outreach extend to workshops, media, and educational programming aimed at broadening participation in engineering and science, particularly for underrepresented groups. He has led interactive science communication sessions, such as a 2024 workshop at the University of California, Merced, where he simplified complex concepts for students from preschool to graduate levels. His media appearances, including the Emmy-nominated children’s series Elinor Wonders Why and hosting the podcast SciStuff, promote curiosity-driven learning and have helped diversify STEM narratives by drawing on his Panamanian heritage to inspire young audiences. As of 2025, Cham continues to sustain his role in science popularization through ongoing comic-related events and new publications, including the release of Out of Your Mind: The Biggest Mysteries of the , which explores in an engaging format. These efforts, alongside school visits and public tours, maintain his influence in bridging scientific research with public understanding.

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