After Cartoonist Jan Eliot graduated from the University in 1977, she went on to create the comic strip “Stone Soup,” making her one of out of nine women who have comic strips in syndication. There is a total of 250 syndicated strips.
Eliot will deliver a speech entitled “The Business of Being Funny” in 302 Gerlinger Hall from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. today.
During the seminar, Eliot plans to explore how the funny pages have evolved over the past 100 years, why there aren’t many women in the comics business and what it takes to be a syndicated cartoonist.
Eliot began cartooning in 1979 and her strip can now be found on the funny pages of 140 newspapers internationally. Stone Soup will celebrate its 10th birthday this month.
Eliot will receive an Alumni Fellow Award for humanities from the College of Arts and Sciences at a closed invitation banquet this evening.
Other college alumni fellow award winners include Patrick Gray and William Drozdiak.
Gray will be awarded in the sciences category for his achievements in biotechnology. He played an instrumental role in discovering the Hepatitis B vaccine, Alumni and Donor Relations Coordinator Katrina McGee said. Gray graduated in 1974 with a degree in biology.
Drozdaik won the social sciences category. He’s currently a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post. He graduated from the University in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.
– Emily Smith