My mission is to help people harness the power of computation in its many forms, in particular, through computer programming. I accomplish this through two paths:
- I study programming languages and systems and develop tools that put the rich theories and logics used to verify software to practical use.
- I use techniques from mathematical logic and programming language theory to create and support pedagogy that unites the theory of computer science and the practice of programming.
I co-lead the Systems and Languages @ Grinnell (SL@G) group at Grinnell with Charlie Curtsinger where we investigate problems at the intersection of systems, programming languages, human-computing interaction, and computer science education.
I also collaborate with the Laboratory for Molecular Programming (LAMP) at Iowa State University.
My work has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation through EAGER, CAREER, and FMiTF awards.
Research
Grinnell students: check out my MAP page for information about joining my research group!
Foundations of Program Synthesis
We investigate mathematical foundations for program synthesis that encompass the wide variety of "synthesis-like" activities sturied in programming language theory such as auto-completion, type inference, implicit argument inference, and proof search.
Molecular Programming
We develop programming language abstractions for molecular programming where chemical reactions rather than electrical signals are used as the substrate for computing.
Mathematics Education in Computer Science
We investigate how programming language theory can motivate and support mathematics education in computer science.
Teaching
I am teaching the following courses during the Spring 2025 semester:
- CSC 207: Object-oriented Programming, Data Structures, and Algorithms
- CSC 399: MAP: Program Synthesis
Prior Course Websites
I maintain archives of my course materials below.
If you are a prior student and need access to materials specific to your course offering, feel free to get in touch!
(Note: links within the course pages are broken—fixes are forthcoming!)
Contact
For college business, general questions, business inquiries, etc., please contact me via email:
Note that I try to limit my email processing to the beginning and the end of the day, so please do not expect an immediate response during the day.
Office Hours
Do you have course, advising, department, or, really, any questions, that you'd like to ask?
Feel free to drop by my office, Science 2811 (across from Kistle library), during my office hours (Spring 2025):
- Mondays and Fridays: 11:00–12:00 PM
- Tuesday: 3:00–4:00 PM
- Wednesdays: 2:30–3:30 PM
- Thursday: 10:00–11:00 AM
Letters of Recommendation
If you would like me to write a letter of recommendation for you, please fill out my letter request form, and I'll get back to you promptly.
If you no longer have a Grinnell email to access the form, feel free to contact me via email!
