CSC News

Fidelity Investments Speakers Series Presents PhD Comics' Jorge Cham

Please join us on March 26th at 6 pm in the new Hunt Library Auditorium for our final spring 2013 talk in the Fidelity Investments “Leadership in Technology” Executive Speakers Series.

Our very special guest speaker will be Jorge Cham, cartoonist, roboticist, author, and founder of PhD Comics.  His talk topic will be "The Power of Procrastination."

Jorge Cham began drawing PhD Comics while pursuing his doctorate degree in Engineering at Stanford University, specializing in Robotics. His research at Stanford focused on dynamic legged 'biomimetic' robots that incorporate novel manufacturing technologies and design lessons from biology. He also spent time at Caltech developing work on Neural Prosthetics. Since 1997 when he first created PhD Comics, Dr. Cham has published four books and travels extensively giving lectures at conferences and universities about the power of procrastination and “life (or the lack thereof) in academia”. “The PhD Movie” is Dr. Cham’s first screenplay.

The event is free and open to the public.  Direct access to the Hunt Auditorium is available via the Partners Way entrance. Ample free parking is also available on Centennial Campus after 5 pm.  For a map, click here.

A special open reception and book signing will follow the talk in the Emerging Issues Multi-purpose Room, located in the Hunt Library, directly above the auditorium. 

Abstract: 

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.