MICHAEL Dobson

Background

At a young age, Dobson's family moved from North Carolina to Germany. His father had spent the latter part of World War II in a POW camp and had grown adjusted to German hospitality.

Education

Tulane University; Pfeiffer College (Bachelor of Arts, 1974). University of Tennessee (Juris Doctor, 1981). Managing Editor, Tennessee Law Review, 1980-1981.

Career

The Dobson family returned to the United States in 1960, five years later. Dobson later lived in Decatur, Alabama, he felt that he did not fit in well in the South. "I still can't play a Civil War game to this day." Having trouble in school, and having had enough of the Deep South, he moved back to Charlotte for college.

During college, he was temporarily employed as a faculty member teaching freshman composition and science fiction. Out of school, Dobson soon worked three jobs: a temporary typist, substitute teacher, and a planetarium operator on weekends. "I worked real hard to get a real job," explained Dobson, "and I was finally hired as a research assistant in the Aeronautics Department of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. It was a great first job!" In 1976, Dobson began overseeing the business operations of the Albert Einstein Spacearium at the Smithsonian, and then running a résumé business in 1979.

"The first three projects I worked on at TSR never appeared in print," recalls Dobson. "I got a special satisfaction out of editing wargames. In 1985, Dobson was asked to join the Marketing Department and ended up as Marketing Manager.

In March 1986, Dobson became the Director of Games Development. As a game designer, his credits included the four-module AD&D-game Bloodstone Pass series with Douglas Niles, and X10, Red Arrow, Black Shield, both of which involved the Battlesystem rules. Dobson also co-designed the Partyzone Knave of Hearts game with Debbie.

The publication of Fox on the Rhine in 2000 marked the beginnings of Dobson's forays into Alternate History. In his RPG and Alternate History books, he has frequently collaborated with Douglas Niles.

Achievements

• They were tough, but I loved the preciseness and detail." The projects he edited included the Dragonlance series, as well as the Battlesystem fantasy combat supplement, which won the H.G. Wells Award at the 1986 Origins Game Fair.

Works

• book

  • Project Management for the Technical Professional

    (Are you an accidental manager? Dobson's new book is the r...)

  • Fox at the Front by Douglas Niles (2003-11-21)
  • Fox on the Rhine by Douglas Niles (2000-06-10)
  • Fox at the Front (Fox on the Rhine) by Douglas Niles (2004-06-14)
  • Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals (WorkSmart Series) by Susan B. Wilson (2008-06-01)
  • Project Management for the Technical Professional by Michael Singer Dobson (2001-01-01)

Membership

He served as chief executive at Morgan Grenfell Group from 1989 to 1996 and member of the board of managing directors of Deutsche Bank AG from 1996 to 2000. Dobson serves as the chairman of investment board of the Cambridge University endowment fund and a member of the advisory committee of the staff retirement plan of the International Monetary Fund.