Matthew Flatt

Matthew Flatt is a Professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, where he has been actively contributing to programming language research and development. His primary affiliation is with the PLT research group, which is responsible for the Racket programming language ecosystem.

Flatt received his PhD from Rice University in 1999. His educational background laid the foundation for his extensive work in programming language design and implementation.

His research focuses on extensible programming languages, runtime systems, and applications of functional programming. As one of the principal developers of the Racket programming language, Flatt has made significant contributions to macro systems, language composition, and domain-specific language design. His work demonstrates how language-oriented programming can solve complex software engineering challenges through careful language design and implementation techniques.

Flatt has served in numerous leadership roles in major programming language conferences including as Program Chair for DLS 2020, ICFP 2018, and GPCE 2017, and as Program Committee member for numerous SIGPLAN conferences including PLDI, POPL, ICFP, and SPLASH across multiple years. His conference contributions reveal a consistent focus on practical language implementation techniques and metaprogramming systems.

As an educator, Flatt has developed and taught courses on programming languages, computer systems, and software engineering, with many course materials including videos and slides publicly available. His teaching approach emphasizes hands-on implementation of language concepts, as evidenced by his MSD Software Engineering course materials that guide students through building an interpreter for a programming language called MSDscript.