Andy Gavin
Gavin in 2009
Born	Andrew Scott Gavin (1970-06-11)June 11, 1970 (age 55) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Education	Haverford College (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Occupations	Entrepreneur game designer novelist programmer
Years active	1984–present
Employer	Naughty Dog (1984–2004)

Andrew Scott Gavin (born June 11, 1970) is an Americanvideo game programmer, entrepreneur, and novelist. Gavin co-founded the video game companyNaughty Dog with childhood friendJason Rubin in 1986, which released games includingCrash Bandicoot andJak and Daxter.^[1] Prior to founding Naughty Dog, Gavin worked in theLISP programming language at theMIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.^{[2][failed verification]}

Gavin earned a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiological Science fromHaverford College.^[3] He studied for a Ph.D. at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, conducting research for theJet Propulsion Laboratory on the Mars Rover Vision Project, under advisorRod Brooks.^[4] As a student, Gavin learned theLISP computer programming language, and developed a number of custom programming languages that were later used for the graphics, controls, sounds, and artificial intelligence inNaughty Dog video games.

Gavin and Rubin sold their first video game,Maths Jam, in 1985. In 1989, they soldKeef the Thief toElectronic Arts.^[5] In the early 1990s, their fighting game,Way of the Warrior, led to a multi-title deal withUniversal Interactive Studios.^[6] Under the auspices of this Universal deal they produced theCrash Bandicoot series from 1996 until 1999, and later theJak and Daxter series. At the end of 2000, Rubin and Gavin soldNaughty Dog toSony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), having released 14Naughty Dog games, which together sold over 35 million units and generated over $1 billion in revenue.^[7]

While at Naughty Dog, Gavin developed two LISP dialects for use in game development, Game Oriented Object Lisp (GOOL) and its successorGame Oriented Assembly Lisp (GOAL). These included innovations in terms of language choice and design.^[8]

Shortly after leaving Naughty Dog in 2004, Gavin and Rubin co-founded a new Internet startup calledFlektor with formerHBO executive Jason R. Kay. In May 2007, the company was sold toFox Interactive Media, a division ofNews Corp.^[9] Fox described the company as "a next-generation Web site that provides users with a suite of Web-based tools to transform their photos and videos into dynamic slideshows, postcards, live interactive presentations, and video mash-ups." In October 2007, Flektor partnered sister companyMySpace, andMTV to provide instant audience feedback via polls for the interactive MySpace / MTV Presidential Dialogues series with Senator and presidential candidateBarack Obama.^[10]

Gavin left Fox Interactive Media in 2008. In 2009, he and Rubin announced a new social game startup calledMonkey Gods, which was working on a new version ofSnood along with a casual word game calledMonkWerks.^[11]

Gavin also released a dark historical fantasy novel,The Darkening Dream, published in December 2011.^[12] His second novelUntimed, which involves time travel, was released on December 19, 2012.^[13]

• 1970 births
• 21st-century American novelists
• American video game designers
• American male novelists
• Haverford College alumni
• Living people
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
• American video game programmers
• Lisp (programming language) people
• American businesspeople in the computer industry
• Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.
• Naughty Dog people
• 21st-century American male writers

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• Place of birth missing (living people)