# Masayuki Hatta

> associate professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Surugadai University in Saitama, Japan

**Wikidata**: [Q11391661](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11391661)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/masayuki-hatta

## Summary  
Masayuki Hatta (八田真行, born 31 July 1979) is a Japanese economist and university teacher who also works as a programmer and free‑software activist. He is an associate professor of Economics at Surugadai University in Saitama and a maintainer of the GNU a2ps utility as well as a Debian developer.

## Biography  
- **Born:** 31 July 1979, Nerima, Japan  
- **Nationality:** Japanese  
- **Education:** University of Tokyo (undergraduate/graduate studies)  
- **Known for:** Bridging academic economics with free‑software development and advocacy  
- **Employer(s):** Surugadai University (associate professor, Faculty of Economics and Management); Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan  
- **Field(s):** Economics, higher‑education teaching, software development, free‑software activism  

## Contributions  
Masayuki Hatta has contributed to both academia and the free‑software ecosystem. In his academic role, he teaches economics at Surugadai University and conducts research that informs the university’s curriculum in the Faculty of Economics and Management. Parallel to his teaching, Hatta is a long‑standing maintainer of **GNU a2ps**, a document formatting tool that converts plain‑text files to printable formats; his maintainer status is recorded as of March 2023. He is also an active **Debian developer**, contributing packages and patches that are distributed to millions of Debian users worldwide. Hatta’s involvement in the **GNU Project** and the **Debian Project** places him among the core contributors who ensure the stability and openness of key free‑software components. As a translator and Internet activist, he promotes the free‑software movement through public talks, social‑media outreach (Twitter @mhatta, Instagram @masayukihatta), and participation in community forums. His combined work in economics education and software development exemplifies a multidisciplinary approach that encourages open knowledge sharing across technical and social sciences.

## FAQs  
### Q: What is Masayuki Hatta’s primary professional role?  
A: He is an associate professor of Economics at Surugadai University in Saitama, Japan.  

### Q: How is Masayuki Hatta involved in free‑software projects?  
A: He maintains the GNU a2ps utility, contributes as a Debian developer, and is a member of both the GNU Project and The Debian Project.  

### Q: Does Masayuki Hatta have a background in programming?  
A: Yes; his occupations include programmer, software engineer, and free‑software activist, and he actively writes and maintains open‑source code.  

## Why They Matter  
Masayuki Hatta’s significance lies in his rare combination of expertise in economics and open‑source software. By teaching economics while actively developing and maintaining free‑software tools, he models how scholarly rigor can coexist with collaborative software engineering. His work on GNU a2ps ensures that a reliable, open‑source document‑formatting tool remains available to users worldwide, while his Debian contributions help keep one of the most widely used Linux distributions secure and up‑to‑date. In the academic sphere, his presence at Surugadai University brings a practical, technology‑forward perspective to economics education, encouraging students to consider open‑source solutions in economic research and policy analysis. Moreover, his advocacy for the free‑software movement amplifies the cultural shift toward transparency, reproducibility, and shared knowledge in both academia and industry. Without his dual‑track contributions, the bridge between economic scholarship and open‑source practice would be less visible, potentially slowing the adoption of open tools in economic curricula and research.  

## Notable For  
- Associate professor of Economics at Surugadai University (Faculty of Economics and Management).  
- Maintainer of the GNU a2ps document‑formatting utility (recorded as of March 2023).  
- Active Debian developer contributing packages to the Debian Linux distribution.  
- Member of the GNU Project and The Debian Project, supporting core free‑software infrastructure.  
- Advocate of the free‑software movement through translation work, public speaking, and social‑media outreach.  

## Body  

### Early Life and Education  
- Born in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan on 31 July 1979.  
- Completed higher education at the University of Tokyo, a leading Japanese research university.  

### Academic Career  
- Holds the position of **associate professor** in the Faculty of Economics and Management at **Surugadai University**, Hannō, Saitama.  
- Also affiliated with the **Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan**, contributing to interdisciplinary research and teaching.  

### Open‑Source Involvement  
- **GNU a2ps maintainer** – responsible for updates, bug fixes, and documentation of the utility that converts plain‑text files to printable formats.  
- **Debian developer** – maintains Debian packages, ensuring they meet the distribution’s standards for stability and security.  
- Member of the **GNU Project** and **The Debian Project**, participating in community decision‑making and development processes.  

### Advocacy and Public Presence  
- Identifies with the **free software movement**; promotes open‑source principles via translation work and public talks.  
- Active on multiple platforms: Twitter @mhatta, Instagram @masayukihatta, GitHub mhatta, and others, using these channels to disseminate information about free software and economics.  

### Intersection of Economics and Technology  
- Integrates free‑software tools into economics curricula, encouraging reproducible research methods.  
- Publishes and translates material that bridges economic theory with practical software applications, fostering a culture of openness in both fields.

## References

1. [Source](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/a2ps.git/tree/AUTHORS)
2. [Source](https://nm.debian.org/person/mhatta/)
3. [Source](https://about.me/mhatta)
4. Virtual International Authority File
5. [Source](https://savannah.gnu.org/users/mhatta)
6. YouTube API