Martin Odersky
Born 1958 · Age 67
German computer scientist. Professor of programming methods at EPFL. Creator of Scala, co-designer of Java generics (GJ/Pizza), implementer of javac, co-founder/chairman of Typesafe (Lightbend), prolific researcher and speaker.
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Life & Career Timeline
Graduated from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (approx.)
Alma mater listed as Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (no year given in sources; approximate undergraduate completion used here).
Ph.D. from ETH Zurich under Niklaus Wirth
Received doctorate (Ph.D.) from ETH Zürich; supervisor Niklaus Wirth.
Postdoctoral researcher at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center (start)
Began postdoctoral/research position at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center following his Ph.D.
Research position at Yale University (postdoc)
Held a postdoctoral/research position at Yale University.
Professor at University of Karlsruhe (appointment)
Appointed professor at the University of Karlsruhe.
Professor at University of South Australia (appointment)
Held a professorship at the University of South Australia beginning in 1997.
Implemented GJ compiler
Implemented the Generic Java (GJ) compiler (1997).
GJ implementation became basis of javac
Odersky's GJ implementation became the basis for the javac Java compiler.
Published 'Pizza into Java' (Pizza language work)
Published work on Pizza and translating it into Java (Pizza influenced GJ/Java generics).
Joined EPFL as full professor
Appointed full professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), heading the programming research group.
Conference chair for ICFP 2000
Served as conference chair for the International Conference on Functional Programming (ICFP) in 2000.
Began work on Scala language
Started work with colleagues on Scala, aiming to unify object-oriented and functional programming.
First iteration / initial release of Scala (internal/public draft)
Initial iteration of Scala appeared (EPFL/InfoQ states the early language came out in 2003 as first iteration used by students).
First public release of Scala
Scala had its first public release (per Wikipedia; some sources indicate 2003 initial internal release).
Program chair for ECOOP 2004
Served as program chair for ECOOP 2004.
Published 'Scalable Component Abstractions' (OOPSLA 2005)
Authored/scored an OOPSLA 2005 paper on scalable component abstractions.
Inducted as ACM Fellow
Became a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in recognition of contributions to programming languages.
Program chair for ETAPS/CC 2007
Served as program chair for ETAPS/CC 2007.
Scaling Scala activity: scalac (compiler) maturation
Over time the Scala compiler (scalac) matured and became the reference compiler for Scala projects (maturation around late 2000s).
Co-founded/Launched Typesafe Inc.
Odersky and collaborators launched Typesafe Inc. to provide commercial support for Scala and related technologies (company later renamed Lightbend).
Typesafe Stack 2.0 & Play/Akka release candidates (announcement)
Typesafe announced major updates: release candidates for Akka 2.0 and Play 2.0 and Typesafe Stack 2.0 (InfoQ interview, March 2012).
Began teaching Coursera courses (Functional Programming in Scala etc.)
Teaches three Coursera courses: Functional Programming Principles in Scala, Functional Program Design in Scala, Programming Reactive Systems (dates on Coursera begin in early 2010s).
Published GPCE/SPLASH work: 'Spiral in Scala' and Forge DSL work
Authored GPCE 2013 paper 'Spiral in Scala' and 'Forge' research on DSL generation (researchr listings).
SPLASH 2014 presentations/publications
Presented 'Late Data Layout' and other Scala/OOPSLA research at SPLASH 2014.
SPLASH 2015 papers: 'Automating Ad-hoc Data Representation Transformations'
Authored OOPSLA/SPLASH 2015 work on automating ad-hoc data representation transformations.
SPLASH 2016 Keynote: 'From DOT to Dotty'
Gave SPLASH 2016 keynote on DOT and Dotty (foundations and types for objects as modules).
Typesafe renamed to Lightbend
Typesafe Inc. rebranded to Lightbend (February 2016).
PLDI 2017 Keynote: 'What to Leave Implicit'
Delivered the PLDI 2017 keynote 'What to Leave Implicit'.
SPLASH/GPCE 2018 publications: macros & multi-stage unification
Authored work on unifying multi-stage programming and macros and Scala work at GPCE/SPLASH 2018.
Steering Committee member for Scala 2019
Served on the Scala conference steering committee in 2019.
SPLASH 2020 paper: Type-and-effect system for object initialization
Published SPLASH/OOPSLA 2020 work on type-and-effect systems for object initialization.
Published 'Safer Exceptions for Scala' (2021)
Authored Scala-related work on safer exceptions and other research (researchr listings for 2021).
Scala 2022: Keynote and authored 'Tracking Captures in Types'
Keynote speaker at Scala 2022 and author of 'Tracking Captures in Types'.
IWACO 2023 and Scala publications on capture tracking
Authored work on capture tracking and 'Degrees of Separation' related research in 2023 (researchr).
ICFP 2024 Keynote: 'Capabilities for Control' and GPCE/SPLASH publications
Delivered ICFP 2024 keynote 'Capabilities for Control' and authored multiple 2024 GPCE/SPLASH/POPL publications (researchr listings).
Ongoing: Head of Programming Group & Academic Director roles
Continues to head the programming research group at EPFL and serve in leadership roles for Scala research initiatives (e.g., academic director of Scala Center).
Long-term impact: Scala industrial adoption milestone
Scala escaped the research lab and saw industrial adoption by companies (Twitter, Guardian, LinkedIn, Netflix mentioned in sources).
Research sponsorships continue
Odersky's research has been (and continues to be) sponsored by Swiss National Science Foundation, European Commission, Hasler Foundation.
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