James Franklin Hyneman (; born September 25, 1956)
He was an early competitor in Robot Wars, but his robot Blendo was deemed too dangerous for competition.
Early life and education
Hyneman was born James Franklin Hyneman in Marshall, Michigan to Franklin K. (1929–2016) and Betty Jo (née Calender; 1930–1972) Hyneman,
and grew up on a farm in Columbus, Indiana.
He had one older sister named Susan (1954–2024).
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, 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.
In 1981, Hyneman earned a degree in Russian linguistics from Indiana University Bloomington.
Career
Hyneman has worked as a
Sea captain,
certified
divemaster,
wilderness survival expert, linguist, pet store owner,
[ (Archived at Ghostarchive)] animal wrangler, machinist, concrete inspector, and chef. He co-hosted
MythBusters from 2003 to 2016.
Special effects work
Hyneman owns the special effects company M5 Industries in
San Francisco. 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 previously in the
MythBusters series's
Television pilot and retested twice more.
Hyneman made a cameo appearance along with Savage on on the May 1, 2008 episode "The Theory of Everything",
He and Savage executive produced and appeared as judges on the game show Unchained Reaction, which premiered in March 2012.
Academic career
In November 2021, he was appointed professor of practice at
LUT University in
Lappeenranta, 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 degree of Engineering degree from Villanova University on May 16, 2010, and gave a commencement address.
On November 25, 2011, Hyneman was awarded an honorary doctorate 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 LUT University.
Personal life
In 1984, Hyneman met science teacher Eileen Walsh when he owned a sailboat diving charter business in the
Virgin Islands. Hyneman and Walsh married in 1989.
Hyneman is an
atheism.
He has stated that, while he has not been formally diagnosed, he suspects he displays characteristics of autism spectrum disorder.
See also
-
List of atheists in film, radio, television and theater
External links
