Leigh Rubin


Leigh Rubin is the creator of the syndicated comic strip Rubes. Born in the Queens borough of New York City, Rubin was brought to California at age 3. Rubin's parents sold advertising and by the early 70s, he was working in the family print shop. In 1978 he started his own greeting card company, Rubes Publications, featuring early renditions of his animal characters. He designed a greeting card series with characters who took the shape of musical notes and later published his first cartoon collection, Notable Quotes, in 1981. In 1984, Steven Hendrickson,entertainment editor for the Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California, approached Rubin about writing a daily comic for the paper. After illustrating about 100 cartoons, he began pitching major and minor syndicates. Rubes has been distributed by Creators Syndicate since 1989 and now appears in more than 400 newspapers worldwide. Leigh also enjoys a busy schedule giving thought-provoking and entertaining cartoon presentations at conferences, as well as professional organizations all around the country.
In September 2018 Leigh Rubin had the honor of being selected as Rochester Institute of Technology's first Cartoonist-in Residence.
Leigh's first visit as the Cartoonist-in Residence was in November of 2018 where he lectured and taught classes on creativity, imagination as well as addressing the business aspects of cartooning, branding and syndication.
Rochester Institute of Technology and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle also hosted the East Coast premiere of Drawing Inspiration, a docu-reality series which celebrates creativity, inspiration and innovation he co-created with filmmaker and special effects fabricator Ryan Johnson to a packed house on the RIT campus.
In April, 2019 Leigh spent another week on the RIT campus and in addition to teaching classes he took part in a public discussion with RIT Senior Lecturer Mike Johansson on Curiosity & Creativity.
The week was capped off by the unveiling of Leigh's BrickCityLand mural during the opening of RIT's Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival, a campus-wide, open to-the public event that showcases the creative and innovative spirit of RIT students, faculty and staff.
Rubin will be returning to Rochester Institute of Technology in October 2019 for the Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend, and annual tradition to celebrate alumni, students, parents and families, faculty, staff and friends of the University.

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