JACK WIDMAN
Summary
Senior Software Engineer | Ph.D. Mathematician | Scala & FP Expert
Functional programming authority with 15+ years designing robust, scalable, production-grade systems. Author of Learning Functional Programming (O’Reilly), translating mathematical rigor into expressive software architectures. Deep experience in pure FP (Cats, Cats Effect, FS2), AI orchestration, and full-stack engineering. Proven track record leading greenfield projects, mentoring engineering teams, and delivering end-to-end systems from backend services to mobile apps. Passionate about code clarity, long-term maintainability, and principled software design.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Founder & Principal Engineer
DISCURSA
06.2025 - Current
- Designed and implemented full system architecture in pure Scala (Scala 3.3.3, Http4s, Cats Effect 3, FS2)
- Built backend services, PostgreSQL schema, and React Native + Expo-based mobile apps
- Managed deployment pipeline to AWS (Fargate, ECS) and all DevOps infrastructure
- Orchestrated seamless interaction between multiple LLMs (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Meta)
- Wrote entire codebase (backend, frontend, infra), from idea to production
Visiting Professor of Computer Science
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT
02.2025 - 06.2025
- Taught 'How to Design a Program' and mentored students in software engineering
- Researched formal underpinnings of FP and mathematical CS foundations
Senior Scala Engineer
OneBridge
06.2024 - 12.2024
- Developed FP-based Scala pipelines for cancer image analysis software
- Maintained a large, type-safe, testable Scala codebase for scientific workflows
- Mentored devs in Cats Effect and idiomatic functional Scala
Senior Scala Engineer (Contract)
Tavant
02.2024 - 05.2024
- Upgraded Scala infrastructure to 2.13/Cats Effect 3
- Built Spark-based metadata processing tools
- Boosted performance and reliability via pure FP refactoring
Senior Scala & Go Engineer (Contract)
Bayer Crop Science
01.2022 - 04.2023
- Built scalable gRPC microservices (Scala/Akka) integrated with GCP & BigQuery
- Created FP data ingestion pipelines and React components for bioinformatics tools
- Worked with Kafka, Protobuf, and functional concurrency
CTO & Co-founder
MoodBerry
NYC
01.2021 - 01.2022
- Led creation of a mood-based creativity app using Scala/Play + React Native
- Managed product roadmap, UX design, backend, and cloud infra
- Launched MVP and guided go-to-market strategy
Senior Scala Engineer (Contract)
Verizon
08.2020 - 12.2020
- Developed OAuth2 device code authentication flow in Scala
- Integrated secure AWS infrastructure and CI/CD automation
- Advocated FP adoption and mentored engineers in type-safe development
Senior Scala Engineer
WW (Weight Watchers)
NYC
09.2017 - 11.2019
- Built scalable backend microservices (Scala, Spark, Akka Streams, Kafka)
- Led infrastructure migration to Docker/Kubernetes
- Influenced architecture decisions with FP and DDD principles
Director of Engineering / CTO / Co-founder
Skymarker Labs
NYC
01.2010 - 07.2012
- Built Lift-based social network backend in early days of Scala adoption
- Led engineering strategy, hiring, and technical delivery
Education
Ph.D. - Mathematics
Wesleyan University
B.A. - Latin
City University of New York (CUNY)
Skills
- Scala
- Cats
- Cats Effect
- Zio
- Http4s
- Fs2
- Akka
- Play
- Kafka
- Spark
- Functional Programming
- Pure FP
- Effect Systems
- Type Classes
- Category Theory
- TypeScript
- Python
- JavaScript
- React
- React Native
- Go
- LLM API integration
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Gemini
- Claude
- Meta
- Perplexity
- AI Agent Systems
- AI Prompt Architecture
- AWS
- Fargate
- ECS
- Lambda
- IAM
- GCP
- BigQuery
- GKE
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Jenkins
- CI/CD Pipelines
- Elasticsearch
- PostgreSQL
- MongoDB
- Cassandra
- Purely Functional Architectures
- Microservices
- REST
- GRPC
- GraphQL APIs
- Data Pipelines
- Domain Modeling
Core Technical Expertise
Scala (Cats, Cats Effect, Zio, Http4s, fs2, Akka, Play, Kafka, Spark), Functional Programming (Pure FP, Effect Systems, Type Classes, Category Theory), TypeScript, Python, JavaScript (React, React Native), Go, LLM API integration (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Claude, Meta, Perplexity), AI Agent Systems, AI Prompt Architecture, AWS (Fargate, ECS, Lambda, IAM), GCP (BigQuery, GKE), Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, CI/CD Pipelines, Kafka, Spark, Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, Purely Functional Architectures, Microservices, REST/gRPC/GraphQL APIs, Data Pipelines, Domain Modeling
Publications And Intellectual Property
Learning Functional Programming: Managing Code Complexity by Thinking Functionally – O’Reilly Media, Category Theory for Programmers – Upcoming, Packt Publishing, Authoritude: Semantic authority engine, US20120158747A1, https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120158747A1/en
Personal Information
Title: Scala Engineer | Functional Programmer | Mathematician
Timeline
Founder & Principal Engineer
DISCURSA
06.2025 - Current
Visiting Professor of Computer Science
Wesleyan University
02.2025 - 06.2025
Senior Scala Engineer
OneBridge
06.2024 - 12.2024
Senior Scala Engineer (Contract)
Tavant
02.2024 - 05.2024
Senior Scala & Go Engineer (Contract)
Bayer Crop Science
01.2022 - 04.2023
CTO & Co-founder
MoodBerry
01.2021 - 01.2022
Senior Scala Engineer (Contract)
Verizon
08.2020 - 12.2020
Senior Scala Engineer
WW (Weight Watchers)
09.2017 - 11.2019
Director of Engineering / CTO / Co-founder
Skymarker Labs
01.2010 - 07.2012
Ph.D. - Mathematics
Wesleyan University
B.A. - Latin
City University of New York (CUNY)