Ph.D. students, known for working hard to be experts in their respective fields, have another super power that may be the driving force behind their success — procrastination.

Jorge Cham, creator of and writer for PHD comics, visited N.C. State to speak about the power of procrastination in Hunt Library Auditorium Tuesday evening as a part of the “Leadership in Technology” Executive Speaker Series. 

“I’m sure you would rather be in the lab, but instead you are here procrastinating,” Cham said. 

The comics illustrate the problems Ph.D. students often face.

 According to a recent survey by U.C. Berkeley, 95 percent of all graduate students feel overwhelmed, and more than 67 percent have felt seriously depressed at some point in their careers.

Savera Tanwir, graduate student in computer science, said she loves Cham’s comics. She admitted that she reads “Piled Higher and Deeper,” Cham’s first comic, as a way to put off doing her research. 

Cham began creating PHD comics as an engineering graduate student at Stanford University. He made his first comic in 1997.

Since then, he has published four books and travels around the world giving lectures and attending conferences at universities, typically talking about procrastination and life (or a lack thereof, as he said) in academia. 

Cham originally made his comics by procrastinating in his office. He saw an advertisement in the Stanford Daily that was looking for comics from students.

He sent his creations in, unknowing that they would become viral to eight million visitors, mostly graduate students who were procrastinating. 

Cham noted the problem of procrastination is guilt. It has nothing to do with not having enough time to do favorable activities.

He humored the audience describing laziness as a close cousin to procrastination. Even though they are close, there is a difference between the two. 

“Laziness is when you don’t do anything. Procrastination is when you donít want to do it right now,” Cham said.

Cham said it is okay for one to procrastinate and panic. It is best to enjoy life and relax. 

The series normally has a crowd size of 180 attendees. Tuesday evening was their largest crowd yet packing out the Hunt library auditorium.

Louis Marin-Vega, dean of engineering, accompanied Tate and offered welcoming remarks as well. 

Piyali Dey recommended Jorge Cham a year ago, saying he would draw a large crowd of grad students. Ken Tate said some of the very best speakers have come from student recommendations. 

Cham’s comics can be found on PHDComics.com. He has also released his first screenplay, The PHD Movie,which is on the website for $5. 

The series itself was started in the early 2000s. The computer science department’s Strategic Advisory Board challenged the department to inject leadership development into their undergraduate curriculum leading Ken Tate to take charge of developing an executive seminar-based elective course. 

For the two years it was offered as a pilot course, it was the highest rated computer science course by students, but as a one credit hour course, enrollment was relatively low. 

 “It seemed we had a great idea in bringing in some of the top executives in the area to share their leadership experiences with students,” Tate said. “The problem was that the CEO of a company might be addressing only 12-15 students.”

With its move to Centennial Campus, the department shelved the course for a couple years waiting for another opportunity. That opportunity came when Fidelity Investments announced a major facility in Research Triangle Park and a desire to partner with the department to build strong brand awareness through a partnership. 

The course was taken off the shelf, repackaged and redeployed as the Fidelity Investments “Leadership in Technology” Executive Speakers Series in 2007, and was launched as part of the computer science department’s 40th anniversary celebration. 

Fidelity Investments sponsored the Leadership in Technology Executive Speakers Series where Cham was the speaker of the night. 

The purpose of the series is to provide students of all disciplines, as well as the extended university and business community, exposure to the unique world of leadership in technology.