This was followed by Fortran code for linear equations in 1971. He developed MATLAB's initial linear algebra programming in 1967 with his one-time thesis advisor, George Forsythe. Moler became a math professor at the University of New Mexico and started developing MATLAB for his students as a hobby. The idea for MATLAB was based on his 1960s PhD thesis. MATLAB was invented by mathematician and computer programmer Cleve Moler.