James Franklin Hyneman (; born September 25, 1956) is an American special effects expert who was co-host of the television series ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

'' alongside Adam Savage, where he became known for his distinctive beret and walrus moustache. He is also the owner of M5 Industries, the special effects workshop where ''MythBusters'' was filmed. He was an early competitor in '' Robot Wars'', but his robot Blendo was deemed too dangerous for competition. He is the inventor of the Sentry, an unmanned firefighting robotic vehicle. He is also one of the designers of the aerial cable robotic camera system Wavecam used in sports and entertainment events.

Early life

Hyneman was born in

Marshall, Michigan Marshall is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Michigan. The population was 6,822 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Marshall is best known for its cross-section of 19th- and early 20th-century architecture and as the futu ...

, and grew up on a farm in Columbus, Indiana. He said, "I was a problematic kid, to be sure. I left home when I was 14 and hitchhiked all over the country." As a child, Hyneman spent time at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, where his mother was a graduate librarian. At age fifteen, he owned a pet store in a shopping mall in Columbus. Hyneman graduated from Columbus North High School in 1974.

Academic life

In 1981 Hyneman earned a degree in Russian linguistics from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. In November 2021, he was appointed professor of practice at LUT University in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

, Finland, for a five-year term until November 2026, and gave his first lecture on prototypes on November 18, 2021.

Honorary degrees

He received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

on May 16, 2010, and gave a commencement address. On November 25, 2011, Hyneman was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the University of Twente for his role in the popularization of science and technology. In February 2017 he was named one of the fourteen new honorary doctors of technology by Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT.

Career

Hyneman has worked as a boat captain, certified divemaster, wilderness survival expert, linguist, pet store owner, (Archived a
Ghostarchive
animal wrangler, machinist, concrete inspector, and chef. He co-hosted ''

'' from 2003 to 2016.

Special effects work

Hyneman owns the special effects company M5 Industries in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Some of his achievements in commercials include the can-spitting vending machine seen in 7 Up commercials, and his patented two-wheeled football shoe from Nike Lab commercials.

Other appearances

Hyneman and Adam Savage portray two army junk-sellers in the film '' The Darwin Awards''. They appear during the story of the rocket-car, which they partially reproduced in the ''MythBusters'' series's pilot episode and retested twice more. Obama Hyneman Savage - Oct 2010

Hyneman made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

along with Savage on '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' on the May 1, 2008 episode " The Theory of Everything", where they play inspectors giving thumbs-up after seeing a shirt soaked in

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

catch fire when shot by a taser. They tested this myth on ''MythBusters'' and declared it confirmed with certain types of pepper spray. He and Savage executive produced and appeared as judges on the game show '' Unchained Reaction'', which premiered in March 2012. The two also voiced characters on ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' episode " The Daughter Also Rises" as a parody of themselves, the "MythCrackers", which prompts

Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

and Milhouse to experiment in a similar fashion. Both Hyneman and Savage also voiced stormtroopers in the ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...

'' ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' special.

Personal life

In 1984, Hyneman met science teacher Eileen Walsh when he owned a sailboat diving charter business in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

. Hyneman and Walsh married in 1989. Hyneman is an atheist. He has stated that, while he has not been formally diagnosed, he suspects he displays characteristics of

autism spectrum disorder Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

References

External links

*
Jamie Hyneman bio
at the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyneman, Jamie 1956 births living people American atheists Discovery Channel people Indiana University Bloomington alumni people from Columbus, Indiana people from Marshall, Michigan American special effects people Academics from Indiana Academics from Michigan American television hosts Television personalities from Michigan American roboticists American television personalities American science communicators