UM Alum Named to TIME List of Top Influencers

	UM Grad Jeff Kinney a Top Influencer by TIME

College Park, Md. -- University of Maryland alumnus Jeff Kinney, class of 1993, has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME. Kinney, who earned a degree in criminology from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, is the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a series of children's books starring Greg Heffley, a middle schooler who brings the hazards of growing up to life through his journal.

"Being named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People was a huge shock to me, especially considering I can't even influence my wife to buy me name brand peanut butter," said Kinney. "I am very humbled by this honor. It's exciting to think that my books might be turning reluctant readers into lifetime readers around the world."

Making TIME's list puts him in distinguished company. Also making the list this year are President Barack Obama, Senator Ted Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, Timothy Geithner and Twitter founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone. Click here to read Kinney's TIME profile.

According to a TIME news release, Managing Editor Richard Stengel explains, "They're scientists, they're thinkers, they're philosophers, they're leaders, they're icons, they're artists, they're visionaries. People who are using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people."

Since it was published in 2007, Diary of a Wimpy Kid has spent 70 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list for children's chapter books, with more than 1 million copies in print. Volume 2, Rodrick Rules, published last year, had a first printing of 250,000, and bumped the original title to second place on the list. Volume 3, The Last Straw, was just released and is already the best-selling book in the country. The first book is being reprinted in more than 20 languages and was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award. Kinney has also signed a deal to adapt the book into a feature-length film.

© 2009 Jeff Kinney

Campus Comic Strip Spurred Career
During his years at Maryland in the early 1990s, Kinney was best known for his comic strip "Igdoof," which ran in the university's independent student newspaper, the Diamondback. From this experience, he decided he wanted to be a cartoonist and pursued getting his comic strip syndicated following graduation. After several years and no success, he began filling a journal with ideas and drawings.

"I started a journal to shame myself into working on my cartoons again. I drew little doodles in my entries and I thought that the format was really appealing. So I decided to do a book that mixed cartoons with prose," said Kinney.

After moving to Mass., Kinney began working for the Family Education Network, where he worked on a Web site called Funbrain. As a way to increase traffic to the site during the summer months, when visitors dipped, Kinney began posing daily installments of material from his journal. What resulted was an online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. To date, the online version has received 70 million visits and is read by more than 70,000 kids each day.

In 2006, Kinney signed a book deal with publisher Harry N. Abrams to turn Diary of a Wimpy Kid into a print series -- for kids, although he originally wrote the book for adults.

Kinney Event a Big Hit at Maryland Day
Kinney recently visited the university to participate in the 11th Annual Maryland Day, where he spoke to a large, excited crowd about his books and how he got his start with cartoons at Maryland. Kinney spent several hours answering questions about the book and his career and autographing copies of his book, which sold out at the event. Maryland Day, the university's annual open house, drew more than 77,000 people to campus to enjoy 415 academic, athletic, arts and family-friendly events.