Scott Adams (born June 8, 1957) is the creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, and business.
His Dilbert series came to national prominence through the downsizing period in 1990s America and was then distributed worldwide, as Adams went Door to Door to promote the idea. Adams worked in various roles at big businesses before he became a full-time cartoonist in 1995. He writes in a satirical, often sarcastic, way about the social and psychological landscape of white-collar workers in modern business corporations.
Early life
Scott Raymond Adams was born in 1957 in Windham, New York, the son of Paul and Virginia (née Vining) Adams. He is of half-German descent, and he also has English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Dutch, and "a small amount" of American Indian ancestry.
He was a fan of the Peanuts comics while growing up, and he started drawing his own comics at age six. He won a drawing competition at age 11.
Adams graduated valedictorian from Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School in 1975 in a class of 39. He remained in the area and received a BA in economics from Hartwick College in 1979. He moved to California a few months after his graduation. Adams earned an MBA from University of California, Berkeley.
Career
Office worker
Adams worked closely with telecommunications engineers at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco between 1979 and 1986. Upon joining the organization, he entered a management training program after being held at gunpoint twice in four months as a teller.[7] Over the years, his positions included management trainee, computer programmer, budget analyst, commercial lender, product manager, and supervisor. He earned an MBA in economics and management from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986.[9]
Adams created Dilbert during this period; the name came from ex-boss Mike Goodwin. Dogbert, originally named Dildog, was loosely based on his family's deceased pet beagle Lucy. Submissions to various publications of both Dilbert and non-Dilbert comic panels failed to win publication. These included The New Yorker and Playboy. However, an inspirational letter from a fan persuaded Adams to keep trying. He worked at Pacific Bell between 1986 and June 1995; the personalities he encountered there became the inspiration for many of his Dilbert characters. Adams first published Dilbert with United Media in 1989, while still employed at Pacific Bell. He had to draw his cartoons at 4 a.m. in order to work a full day at the company. His first paycheck for Dilbert was a monthly royalty check of $368.62. Gradually, Dilbert became more popular, and was published by 100 newspapers in 1991 and 400 by 1994. Adams attributes his success to his idea of including his e-mail address in the panels, thus facilitating feedback from readers