Peter Gray

Peter Gray was born in 1944 and spent much of his childhood in small towns in Minnesota and Wisconsin; his family moved to Vermont when he was sixteen. He graduated from Cabot School in Vermont in 1962, then studied psychology and biology at Columbia College, graduating magna cum laude. His experiences working at summer camps and recreation centers during high school and college shaped his later interest in play and child development. He earned his PhD in biological sciences from Rockefeller University in 1972 and joined the Psychology Department at Boston College that same year, where he served for thirty years as a full professor—including as department chair and director of the undergraduate and graduate programs—and now holds the title of research professor, retired from teaching duties.

Gray has published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. His textbook "Psychology," now in its eighth edition, was the first introductory psychology textbook to apply a Darwinian, evolutionary perspective across the entire field.

His recent research and writing focus primarily on the role of play in human evolution and how children naturally educate themselves through play and free exploration when given the opportunity. He developed these ideas in his book "Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life" (2013). His research includes surveys of adults raised through unschooling and graduates of schools designed for self-directed education, such as Sudbury Valley School.

Gray also writes a popular blog, "Freedom to Learn," for Psychology Today, and is a founding member of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education and of the nonprofit Let Grow.