"I've never heard so many
graduate students *really*
laughing at the same time!“
-Jory Zmuda Ruscio, Chair, Virginia
Tech Graduate Life Center
"The message of the
presentation really resonated
with our students.“
-John Nonnamaker, Graduate
Student Career Development,
M.I.T.
"The talk was just terrific.
We all loved it.“
-Mary Johnson, Director,
Graduate Career Services,
Yale University
About Jorge Cham
Jorge Cham is the creator and artist of Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD), the
comic strip about life (or the lack thereof) in grad school.
Often called the Dilbert of academia, PHD has appeared in the Stanford, MIT,
Caltech and Carnegie Mellon newspapers among others, and it is published
online where it receives over 7 million page views a month from over 1000
universities and colleges worldwide.
Jorge Cham was born and raised in the Republic of Panama. He obtained his
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and his M.S. and Ph.D. in
Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University (specializing in Robotics),
where he started drawing PHD. He was subsequently an Instructor and
Research Associate at Caltech from 2003-2005, where his work focused on
developing “Smart” Neural Implants. He has published and presented nationally
and abroad on his Robotics and Neural Prosthetics research. He also travels
and presents all over the world to thousands of graduate students, faculty and
administrators on the graduate student experience.
Three PHD book collections have been published. In all, Jorge Cham’s books
have sold over 48,000 copies to date.
Notable reviews for Piled Higher and Deeper
“Hilarious.”
- The Chronicle of Higher Education chronicle.com
“You’ll laugh and wince at Jorge Cham’s smart comic strip, which feels your
pain, your panic, your coffee addiction… and your departmental politics.”
- USATODAY.com
“Jorge Cham makes the daily grind just a bit more tolerable.”
- Stanford Magazine
“Use this comic for procrastination or decompression, as you see fit.”
- The Journal Nature
Duke University, April 5, 2007
About the talk
A recent survey by U.C. Berkeley found that 95% of all graduate
students feel overwhelmed, and over 67% have felt seriously
depressed at some point in their careers. In this talk, Jorge Cham
recounts his experiences bringing humor into the lives of stressed
out academics, examines the source of their anxieties and explores
the guilt, the myth, and the power of procrastination.
Talk duration: 45 minutes, 15 minutes Q&A
Rough outline:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How “Piled Higher and Deeper” got started
Grad students in the media and popular perceptions
The big question: Why grad school?
Average stipends
PhD goes global: you are not alone
The power of procrastination: arguments in favor of putting things off
Guilt and losing your mojo: common causes for depression in grad school
Embracing procrastination and getting back on track
MIT, May 12, 2005
Caltech, May 26, 2005
Princeton, Nov. 17, 2005
Stanford, May 18, 2005
Feedback about the talk
From event organizers:
“The talk was humorous and helpful. Cham’s cartoon strip has been a giant plus in
helping graduate students acknowledge and cope with the stress they experience.“
- Isaac Colbert, Dean of Graduate Students, M.I.T.
“Jorge Cham’s talk was just terrific. I loved it and obviously so did our audience here.“
-Mary Johnson, Director, Graduate Career Services, Yale University
"The message of the presentation really resonated with our students. The graduate
school journey can be extremely isolating, and Jorge Cham's presentation and comics
normalize the experience and provide solace and humor.“
-John Nonnamaker, Graduate Student Career Development, M.I.T.
"We had such a great turnout and I still can't believe how enthusiastic everyone was!“
-Angela Noel-Hvitved, Graduate Student Association, Rice University
"I've never heard so many graduate students *really* laughing at the same time!“
-Jory Zmuda Ruscio, Chair, Graduate Life Center's Speaker Series, Virginia Tech
"Everyone that I talked to really enjoyed
the lecture.“
-Gavin Reddick, Chair, Graduate
Student Council, Univ. of Virginia
""This was such a successful event for
us.“
-Cara Skeat, Associate Program
Director, Georgia Tech Student Center
Audience members at Purdue University, Feb. 28,2006 (Clipping
from the West Lafayette Journal and Courier Newspaper)
“An excellent talk, people thoroughly
enjoyed it. The Q&A session was lots of
fun.”
- Sidharth Jaggi, The Caltech Y
"We were so happy that we were able to
pack the room! It was definitely one of
the most successful events we've run!”
-Shin-Yi Lin, Chair, Graduate Student
Government, Princeton University
Feedback about the talk
From event organizers (cont’d)
“It was an enormous success resulting in some very nice PR for our office.”
-Sharon Belden, Assistant Director, Office of Career Services, Harvard University
“The crowd was so big at Cornell that they were actually hanging from the
rafters... It was one of the few times I think the students really thought we ‘got it
right’!“
-Victoria A. Blodgett, Director, Graduate Student Life & Career Development,
Cornell University
“Penn students loved him! We got lots of positive feedback.”
-Julie Vick, Associate Director, Career Services, Univ. of Pennsylvania
“If you have not engaged Jorge on your campuses, do so. An exceptionally wellreceived program by UCLA students.”
-Albert E. Dubin, Senior Associate Director, Counseling Services & Campus
Relations, UCLA Career Center
Purdue University, Feb. 28,2006
Feedback about the talk
From grad students:
“Your talk was awesome and made me feel so much better. I was at a
point in my education where I was completely stressed out and losing
sight of why I got into science in the first place. Your talk gave me some
insight into why I was feeling that way. Keep doing PhD. . .we all rely on
it to keep our sanity!”
- Kim, anonymous
"Your talk has been the topic of conversation for the past couple of days.
It was a great talk and very well delivered.“
-Gelareh Taban, University of Maryland
"Thanks again for the fun you bring into the labs and lives(!) of grad
students.“
-Bilal Kerman, Johns Hopkins University
"Thank you SO MUCH for signing my books and giving a wonderful talk
at Yale. You made my month!”
-Robert Clark, Yale University
"Thanks for helping us to keep a good perspective on grad life.“
- Calvin Chan, Princeton University
"You were very funny. I found myself REALLY pleased with what you had
to say. I think your talk was more motivational and educational than most
of the career seminars that are organized to supposedly keep us on
track.“
-Geoff, North Carolina State University
"I can’t remember when I have had as many laughs and I am sure many
of our colleagues will benefit from your philosophy and shared
experience.“
-Damian, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
"It was so nice to go to your lecture and laugh for an hour about how life
is for all of us. It is SO good to know that other people are in the same
spot as you. It's something we often forget when we're caught up in
papers and the drama of grad school.“
-Betty Mohler, University of Utah
Recent talks
* Please note that
attendance will vary
significantly depending on
your school.
(US and Canada, 2007-2008)
Apr. 4
Apr. 5
Apr. 6
Apr. 17
Apr. 19
Apr. 24
Apr. 25
Apr. 26
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
May. 1
May. 3
May. 29
May. 31
Aug. 9
Aug. 10
Sept. 25
Oct. 3
Oct. 11
Oct. 12
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
Nov. 1
Nov. 2
Nov.15
Nov. 28
2007
2007
2007
2007
Jan. 15
Jan. 16
Jan. 29
Feb. 19
Feb. 20
Feb. 22
Feb. 27
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
Feb. 28
Mar. 12
Mar. 14
Mar. 27
2008
2008
2008
2008
Apr. 3
Apr. 4
Apr. 8
Apr. 9
Apr. 10
Apr. 17
Apr. 23
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
Apr. 24
May. 2
May. 7
May. 8
Jun. 5
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
Jun. 16
2008
Vanderbilt Univ.
Duke Univ.
Medical U. of South Carolina
Notre Dame U.
Stanford AI Lab Retreat
New Mexico State U.
Univ. Arizona
UC Berkeley EECS Faculty Retreat
Keynote
Ohio State U.
George Mason U.
U. Alberta
Invitrogen Tech Expo
Univ. California
Google, Authors Series
McGill Univ.
Princeton Univ.
SACNAS Conference Keynote
Tulane Univ. Biomedical Sciences
Retreat Keynote
U. Nebraska Medical Center
U. Missouri Columbia
U. Cincinnati
NSF Engineering Research Centers
Annual Meeting Student Retreat
U. Michigan
Wayne State U.
U. Washington
Colorado Univ. Boulder
Colorado State Univ.
Case Western Reserve U.
U. California San Francisco, Career and
Research Day Closing Lecture
U. California Davis
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Stony Brook University
Univ. de Sherbrooke, Research Day
Closing Speech
U. Nebraska Lincoln
Univ. Louisville
Univ. of Kansas
Iowa State University
Bowling Green University
University California Santa Barbara
Cornell Univ. Undergraduate Research
Forum Keynote
Cornell Univ.
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
MIT
Harvard Univ.
International Workshop on Logic and
Synthesis, Keynote
Center for the Integration of Research,
Teaching and Learning Forum Evening
Address
325
600
200
250
75
50
275
75
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
210
25
200
40
150
200
230
75
400
50
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
150
225
160
50
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
455
110
400
250
125
140
150
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
250
150
250
150
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
100
80
200
500
40
250
100
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
250
275
400
270
50
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
200 attendees
Recent talks
(International)
Oct. 5
Sept. 10
Sept. 10
Sept. 11
Sept. 12
Sept. 13
Sept. 19
Sept. 20
Sept. 20
Oct. 22
Oct. 23
Oct. 25
May. 14
May. 15
May. 21
2006 Instituto de Astrofisica Tenerife, Canary
Islands
2007 Univ. Sydney
2007 Univ. New South Wales
2007 Australian National Univ.
2007 Monash Univ.
2007 Univ. of Melbourne
2007 Griffith Univ.
2007 Univ. of Queensland
2007 Queenland Univ. of Technology
2007 Cambridge University
2007 York University
2007 Univ. Zurich
2008 Univ. Edinburgh, Informatics
Distinguished Lecture Series
2008 Univ. Glasgow, Scotland
2008 Ecole Polytechnique Federale de
Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
Cambridge University, Oct. 2007
* Please note that
attendance will vary
significantly depending on
your school.
80 attendees
280
350
300
140
350
70
400
140
350
115
200
350
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
attendees
300 attendees
400 attendees
Advertising Kit
• On the pages below you will find graphics and
information you can use to advertise the event.
• All graphics are of high-enough resolution to be
printed as fliers, posters and even banners.
• Feel free to change event details or change the layout
as you see fit.
• The only font requirement is Comic Sans MS, which
most systems running under Windows have.
• Feel free to request any additional graphics, info or
changes by email. If there is a particular comic you’d
like to use, it can be provided in print-resolution.
• Looking forward to a successful event!
Some fine print: All images are copyright Jorge Cham and are provided for the sole purposes of
advertising or disseminating information about Piled Higher and Deeper, Jorge Cham, and the
speaking engagement event for which the receiver of these images is the host/organizer.
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