Alexander Peter "Alex" Rigopulos is the CEO

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 of Harmonix Music Systems

Harmonix Music Systems

Harmonix Music Systems is an American video game development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States...

, a company he founded with Eran Egozy

Eran Egozy

Eran Egozy is the Chief Technical Officer and VP of Engineering of Harmonix Music Systems, a company he founded with Alex Rigopulos in 1995.-Personal:Eran is a native of Israel. He moved to Lexington, MA at the age of 12, from Israel...

 in 1995. Rigopulos personally cites Japanese game designers Masaya Matsuura

Masaya Matsuura

is a video game designer and musician based in Tokyo, Japan. He was born in Osaka on June 16, 1961, and majored in Industrial Society at Ritsumeikan University. He has worked extensively with music and images, and has been active with the J-Pop band,...

, Tetsuya Mizuguchi

Tetsuya Mizuguchi

is a video game designer and founder of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega were he eventually became the head of their United Game Artists division...

, and Keita Takahashi

Keita Takahashi

is a game director, his most notable titles being Katamari Damacy and its sequel, We Love Katamari. The original Katamari game was a surprise hit and was praised for its quirkiness, originality, and charm...

 as some artists that have inspired his work at Harmonix. Rigopulos and Egozy were listed in Time Magazine's 2008 list of the 100 most influential people

Time 100

Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...

 for their work on Rock Band

Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

.

Rigopulos, born in Boxford

Boxford

Boxford may refer to:* Boxford, Berkshire, England* Boxford, Suffolk, England* Boxford, Massachusetts, United States...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 is a graduate of Deerfield Academy

Deerfield Academy

Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....

 along with two other brothers. He graduated with an B.S.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Music and Theater Arts in 1992 and an M.S.

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 in Media Arts and Sciences in 1994 from the Media Lab

MIT Media Lab

The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...

 at MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

.

Rigopulos also donated $2,000 to the ScoreHero website, a website used to track Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

and Rock Band

Rock Band

Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

scores.

Aug 2010 Rigopulos joined the Advisory Board of The AbleGamers Foundation a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the rich world of digital entertainment to people with disabilities.