Academy of Interactive Arts & SciencesMartin Rae brings his experience in video games and finance/business development to his position as President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Rae took the helm of the non-profit organization in October 2010, championing the $21 billion video game industry by raising awareness of individuals, games, companies, organizations/associations and changing issues by promoting innovation and commitment.
As President of the AIAS, he is the voice of the Academy and oversees the annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, the Interactive Achievements Awards (IAA), the Indie Game Challenge, the Academy scholarship programs and the Into the Pixel video game art exhibit. Rae will continue to advance the international presence of the Academy and Into the Pixel by bringing it to New Zealand, Germany, China, work with related industry conferences to promote the interactive video game industry and work with industry-related organizations like the International Game Developers Association and Entertainment Software Association.
Prior to joining the AIAS, Rae served as CEO at Sunleaf Studios where he provided overall business and strategic leadership of Pandanda.com, an internationally acclaimed children’s site. He also held executive positions at Boss Entertainment where he served as CEO at Boss Game Studios and The Electric Playground where he developed and was instrumental in leading the efforts for growing these companies into internationally recognized, multi-million dollars companies.
Earlier in his career, Rae held senior level positions in business development, sales and finance in many entrepreneurial startups, including Microserv, China Shopping Network and Krakatoa Records.
Rae earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Washington. In his spare time, Rae enjoys the intricacies of boat building and sailing.