Sheldon Lee Cooper , [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Ph. He has a genius-level IQ of , however he displays a fundamental lack of social skills , a tenuous understanding of humor, and difficulty recognizing irony and sarcasm in other people, although he himself often employs them.
The antihero of the series, he exhibits highly idiosyncratic behavior and a general lack of humility , empathy , and toleration. These characteristics provide the majority of the humor involving him, which are credited with making him the show's breakout character. The character of Sheldon Cooper was inspired by a computer programmer personally known to series co-creator Bill Prady. Sheldon and his fraternal twin sister, Missy, were born on February 26, , at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Galveston, Texas , [ 20 ] and raised in Medford, a fictional small town in East Texas that is a three-hour drive from Dallas, along with their older brother, George Jr.
Hinckley, a store owner, that George was stealing from the cash register. The only member of his family to have actively encouraged his work in science was his maternal grandfather, whom he cherished and affectionately called "Pop-Pop", and who died when Sheldon was five years old. Pop-Pop's loss is what caused Sheldon to not like Christmas very much when his Christmas wish to bring Pop-Pop back did not come true.
Sheldon's closest relative is his maternal grandmother whom he affectionately calls "Meemaw", and who in turn calls him "Moon Pie". Sheldon was interested in science from an early age, and was a child prodigy , [ 26 ] although due to his behavioral quirks and his lack of humility about his superior intellect, he was bullied by classmates and neighbors.
Sheldon entered college at the age of eleven, [ 27 ] and at age fourteen he graduated from college summa cum laude. From then, he worked on his doctorate, was a visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, was the youngest person at the time to receive the Stevenson Award, [ 5 ] and has appeared on the cover of Journal of Physical Chemistry A.
