Thomas Dolby

Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, record producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing international hit singles including "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) and "Hyperactive!" (1984). He has also worked as a producer and as a session musician. In the 1990s, Dolby founded Beatnik, a Silicon Valley software company whose technology was used to play internet audio and later ringtones, most notably on Nokia phones. He was also the music director for TED Conferences. On the faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University since 2014, Dolby leads Peabody's Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2018.

Early life Dolby was born Thomas Morgan Robertson in London, England, to Theodosia Cecil (née Spring Rice, 1921–1984) and Martin Robertson (1911–2004), professor of classical Greek art and Archaeology at the University of London, Oxford University, and Trinity College, Cambridge. His older brother is the academic Stephen Robertson. In at least one interview in the 1980s, Dolby claimed, "I was born in Cairo, because...