I've found that my (USA) professors recoil with a near-disgust when I ask them about how to pursue a career in Formal Methods programming.

They say, "Oh, that stuff! That stuff is anal. You don't need that European POS to get a job."

I'm sure I'll get a job without it, but Formal Methods interests me so much that I bet I'd like to make a career of it. I'd like to learn about Formal Methods at an American University and then work in that field here.

I've found that even professors at more important universities than mine don't seem to welcome Formal Methods. Almost all FM research project webpages are semi-abandoned and moldering. Europe is where the action seems to be for this.

Can anyone suggest a plan of attack, and along the way explain the antipathy to Formal Methods in the US?

I'm a sophomore at a public university in the South.