I was born 6/8/57 and raised in Windham, New York, in the Catskill mountains. I graduated high school as valedictorian because the other 39 people in my class couldn't spell "valedictorian."
I moved to Northern California in 1979 after college and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since.
Education
Hartwick College, Oneonta New York, BA in economics, 1979.
University of California at Berkeley, MBA, 1986.
Certified Hypnotist, Clement School of Hypnosis, San Francisco, 1981.
Day Jobs
I worked at Crocker National Bank, San Francisco, 1979 to 1986, in a number of humiliating and low paying jobs: teller (robbed twice at gunpoint), computer programmer, financial analyst, product manager, and commercial lender.
I moved from the bank to Pacific Bell, San Ramon, California, and worked there from 1986 through June 1995. I worked in a number of jobs that defy description but all involve technology and finances. The most recent job was in a laboratory, finding ways to use digital phone lines and also running the company's BBS. My business card said "engineer" but I'm not an engineer by training.
From 1989 until 1995 I worked my day job while doing the Dilbert comic strip mornings, evenings and weekends.
How I Became a Syndicated Cartoonist
Dilbert is a composite of my co-workers over the years. He emerged as the main character of my doodles. I started using him for business presentations and got great responses. A co-worker suggested I name the character Dilbert. Dogbert was created so Dilbert would have someone to talk to.
On the advice of a kind cartoonist I bought a book called "1988 Artist Markets" and followed the instructions on how to get syndicated. I drew fifty sample strips and mailed copies to the major cartoon syndicates. United Media called a few weeks later and offered a contract. I accepted.
Dilbert was launched in 1989 after several months of further developing the strip. That was my first cartooning for profit.
Dilbert © 2005, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.