Andy Gavin

Andrew Scott Gavin aka Andy Gavin (born 1970) is an American video game programmer, designer, entrepreneur, and novelist. In the video game industry he is notable for co-founding the video game company Naughty Dog with childhood friend Jason Rubin in 1986. Naughty Dog's games (most famously, Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter) are known for their combination of exceptional technology, sharp graphics, and polished gameplay. The sophistication of Naughty Dog technology is often credited to Gavin's background in LISP at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Education

Gavin earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiological Science from Haverford College. Gavin studied for his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he carried out research for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Mars Rover Vision Project, under his advisor Rod Brooks. While still a student, Gavin learned the computer programming language LISP. Influences from M.I.T. and his own work lead him to develop a number of custom programming languages that improved the quality of graphics, controls, sounds and artificial intelligence in Naughty Dog video games.