Alistair Gryffen was born in Canada in 2012. (TV: Taphony and the Time Loop) He was at one point a full professor at MIT. (TV: The Custodians) His early work included the development of the Thought Matrix, a revolutionary robot brain. (TV: Robot Gladiators) Gryffen moved to London before his role in the Great Cataclysm, a disaster caused by him and other scientists who created a device to cool the Earth. (TV: Aeolian, The Korven) At some point, Gryffen was awarded the Nobel Prize. (TV: The Custodians)