David Van HornView profile
Associate Professor
David Van Horn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and UMIACS at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research focuses on programming languages, formal methods, and security, with an emphasis on making software components reusable and trustworthy. He holds academic appointments in both Computer Science and UMIACS and is a co-author of Realm of Racket , an educational book on programming video games co-written with undergraduates. Education: PhD in Computer Science, Brandeis University, 2009 MA and BS in Computer Science, University of Vermont, 2004-2006 Research Interests: His work centers on program analysis, verification, static analysis, and security. He develops techniques to bridge scripting languages and formal verification, aiming to improve software reliability. Recent projects include gradual typing, contract verification, and program synthesis tools like RbSyn and Absynthe. Awards: He has received prestigious recognitions, including the NSF CAREER Award (2019), ICFP Most Influential Paper Award (2020), and OOPSLA Distinguished Paper Award (2018). His work on Abstracting Abstract Machines (2010) influenced static analyses for languages like JavaScript and Erlang. Service and Mentoring: Van Horn serves on the SIGPLAN Programming Languages Mentoring Workshop steering committee and advises Technica, the world’s largest hackathon for underrepresented genders. He mentors PhD students in areas like gradual verification and security. Labs and Teams: He directs the Programming Languages at UMD (PLUM) Lab with Prof. Mike Hicks, focusing on foundational and applied research in programming languages and verification.









