Peter Adkison has been an avid gamer all his life. He started off with family games as a child and then graduated to wargames in his early teams, which he still plays occasionally with his father. In 1978 Peter discovered Dungeons & Dragons and has been an avid player of roleplaying games ever since. His favorite games are Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.

Peter's early educational background was as a graduate of Walla Walla College in 1985 with a BS in Computer Science. After college he worked for Boeing for 6 years as a systems analyst. About half way through his Boeing stint he and some friends founded Wizards of the Coast. After Magic: The Gathering was released in 1993 WotC had enough money to hire Peter full time and move out of his basement into a real office. Peter continued on as CEO of WotC until Jan, 2001.

During his tenure at WotC Peter earned a few design credits, including authoring of The Primal Order, some work on Magic: The Gathering in the early days, and, his proudest accomplishment, setting the overall direction and design for 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons. During this time Peter also returned to school to earn his MBA.

Since "retiring" in 2001 Peter has returned to the gaming industry by purchasing the Gen Con Game Fair from his old company. Peter really values this as a great opportunity to get "back in the game," in a small company environment, serving an industry he truly loves.

When not gaming Peter enjoys rock climbing, dancing, snowboarding, travel,
and spending time with friends and family. Peter is married to Melissa Reis Adkison. Peter and Melissa live in Seattle and have no children.