From M:TG Archive, a library of Magic: The Gathering information

Richard Garfield, Ph.D. is a mathematician and game designer, best known for creating collectible card games Magic: The Gathering, Netrunner, BattleTech, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and the board game RoboRally. His most successful game is Magic: The Gathering, which is credited as the first in the collectible card game genre.

Garfield has a Ph.D. in combinatorial mathematics, which he earned in 1993 from the University of Pennsylvania. His wife's name is Lily Wu, and together they a daughter and son - Terry and Schuyler.

Dr. Garfield's collaboration with Wizards of the Coast began in 1993 when he met with the founder, Peter Adkison. Richard originally presented his RoboRally game, but was told by Adkison that the company was looking for something else. As Garfield described, "he really saw a need for a game that could be played quickly with minimal equipment, a game that would go over well at conventions."

Currently, Dr. Garfield's title at Wizards of the Coast is "Designer-in-Chief". He has no specific management responsibility, but works on various design teams.

[edit] Development of Magic

Garfield says he drew his inspiration for Magic from the board game Cosmic Encounter, which incorporated a shared deck of cards with various game-changing effects.

Garfield played the very first games of Magic with friend Barry Reich.