He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. Before becoming a professor, he was a consultant for Arthur Young and a financial advisor for Shearson Lehman Brothers. He has seen firsthand the negative consequences of unhappiness at work, and is committed to finding real solutions to make the workplace a positive, vibrant experience. Matt lives in South Bend with his wife, Kim. His oldest son, Nicholas (pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology at Duke University) and his wife, Kate (a research program manager at Duke Medical Center), live in North Carolina. His son, Keaton, is an architect in New York. One of Matt’s passions is backcountry hiking, so each year he goes "off the grid" somewhere on the Appalachian Trail.