Dr. Brown is one of the world’s leading voices on the science of play. Dr. Brown received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed training in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic, followed by psychiatry and clinical research at Baylor. Early in his academic career, his work took a pivotal turn as he served on the Tower Commission investigating the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting. The Commission concluded the perpetrator’s childhood had been marked by severe play deprivation — an insight that profoundly shaped Dr. Brown’s thinking and future research. Dr. Brown then studied the life histories of incarcerated individuals alongside matched controls, uncovering an association between severe play deprivation and later dysfunction. His findings reframed play as a biological necessity critical to social and emotional competence. Inspired by conversations with colleague Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Brown expanded his research to include animal play, launching a multiyear project with the National Geographic Society in the early 1990s. His 1994 National Geographic cover story, “Animals at Play,” helped bring play science into public and scientific focus. That same year, Dr. Brown founded the nonprofit that would become the National Institute for Play. His work has since reached global audiences through worldwide media and his book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, now translated into multiple languages. Across more than 6,000 developmental play histories — spanning Nobel laureates, artists, scientists, and leaders — he observed a strong association between sustained play and creativity, resilience, and fulfillment. He has taught and consulted widely, including co-teaching From Play to Innovation at Stanford’s d.school, advising Fortune 100 companies, and speaking at TED events and major education and health forums worldwide. Now in his 90s, Dr. Brown still swims and bikes regularly, though he’s quick to say he considers himself more of a storyteller than an athlete these days. He continues to support, inspire, and guide the global study of play.