Peter Gray is a research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. He has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a PhD in biological sciences at The Rockefeller University. His current research and writing focus primarily on children's natural ways of learning and the lifelong value of play. He is a founding member of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and one of the founders of the nonprofit Let Grow. He is the author of an internationally acclaimed college introductory psychology textbook (Psychology, now in its eighth edition), which views all of psychology from an evolutionary perspective, and of Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life.