Jorge Cham
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. He was featured on NPR on December 20, 2010.
Also recorded as Jorge G. Cham · Jorge Gabriel Cham
Jorge Cham

Rama · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
- Name
- Jorge Cham
- Birth Name
- Jorge Gabriel Cham
- Born
- 1976
- Birthplace
- Bocas Town, Bocas del Toro, Panama
- Education
- * Georgia Institute of Technology (B.S.)
- Known for
- Cartoon work - Piled Higher and Deeper Podcast - Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe
- Occupation
- cartoonist · roboticist · engineer · artist · opinion journalist
- Fields
- webcomic · popular science · infographics · computer graphics
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
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. He was featured on NPR on December 20, 2010.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q386158 · wikipedia · Jorge Cham
In this article
Biography
Biography
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. Cham co-created the PBS Kids animated series Elinor Wonders Why, which premiered in September 2020.
Jorge Cham studied at Stanford University and Georgia Tech. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is webcomic, popular science and infographics. Employment is recorded with California Institute of Technology. Works named in the authority record are Piled Higher and Deeper.

Jorge Cham, creator of the “Piled Higher and Deeper” comic strip
Oregon State University · jorge cham
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jorge Cham • Birth Name — Jorge Gabriel Cham • Born — 1976 • Birthplace — Bocas Town, Bocas del Toro, Panama • Education — * 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 • Known for — Cartoon work - Piled Higher and Deeper Podcast - Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe • Website — http: jorgecham.com • Illustration — A PhD Comics special on the occasion of Open Access Week 2012
Early life and education
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, and earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He previously worked at Caltech as an instructor and as a researcher on neural prosthetics. He has now fully devoted to his comic work.
Cartoonist
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". To date, he has given hundreds of lectures worldwide. 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. 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 3 characters from Elinor Wonders Why itself being Olive, Ari & Elinor.
Identity
Identity
Jorge Cham is recorded as cartoonist, roboticist, engineer, artist and opinion journalist. Career and activity. Cham worked in webcomic, popular science, infographics, computer graphics and computer art. He was employed by California Institute of Technology.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1976
Jorge Cham born at Panama.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Coelho, Sara. Piled Higher and Deeper: The Everyday Life of a Grad Student. Science. 2009. 10.1126/science.caredit.a0900042.
- 2.Choe, Jaywon. The Joke Is on the Ph.D. The New York Times. 22 July 2011.
- 3.Cham, Jorge. Jorge G. Cham homepage at Stanford. Stanford University. 2012.
- 4.Jorge Cham interview: "Creating PhDComics"
- 5.The "Piled Higher and Deeper" Book Collections.
- 6.Ruben, Adam. Three Books For Surviving Graduate School. NPR. 2010-09-09.
- 7.Cham, Jorge. We have no idea : a guide to the unknown universe. Riverhead Books. 2017. 9780735211513.
- 8.A Cartoonist and Physicist Team Up to Explain the Universe in New Science Podcast. mentalfloss.com. 2018-09-25.
- 9.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. 1843687858709901373. 2024-10-08.
- 10.Announcement: "PBS KIDS Announces New Series ELINOR WONDERS WHY"
- 11.Grim, Kathryn. Jorge Cham: Piled higher and deeper. Symmetry. 9. 1. 30–35. March 2009.
- 12.Maddaus, Gene. Jorge Cham: The Overeducated Cartoonist. L.A. Weekly. 15 May 2013.
- 13.Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Pacesetters: Piled High.
- 14.Cham, Jorge Gabriel. On performance and stability in open-loop running. Stanford University. 2002.
- 15.Cham, J. G. Fast and Robust: Hexapedal Robots via Shape Deposition Manufacturing. The International Journal of Robotics Research. 21. 10–11. 869. 2002. 10.1177/0278364902021010837.
- 16.Clark, J. E. Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164). 4. 3643–3649. 2001. 0-7803-6576-3.
- 17.About PhD Comics.
- 18.Jorge Cham's Research.
- 19.Home. jorgecham.com.
- 20.Williams June, Audrey. How the 'Dilbert of Academia' Finds Humor in Grad-School Pain. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2019.
- 21.Jorge Cham's Speaking Tour.
- 22.Corbyn, Zoë. PhD Comics hits the big screen. Nature. 16 September 2011.
- 23.Loza-Coll, Mariano. Piled too high. Nature. 21 June 2012.
- 24.Powell, Julia. PHD comics' Jorge Cham on misery, hope and academia. Wired Magazine. 17 June 2014.
- 25.Corbyn, Zoë. Q&A: The academic satirist. Nature. 10 September 2015.
- 26.Revenge of the Non-Nerds. The New York Times. 30 October 2015.
- 27.Krämer, Katrina. Review of Scientific Paper Writing: A Survival Guide. Chemistry World. 10 May 2016.
- 28.We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe.
- 29.Der Spiegel Best Seller List May 2018.
- 30.The 14th Wenjin Book Award is announced.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q386158: Jorge ChamWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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