Matheson earned a Bachelors of Arts degree with distinction from Stanford University in 1975, where he won the Anna Laura Myers Prize for an outstanding undergraduate economics thesis.

[4] He then went to Magdalen College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving a Master of Arts degree in modern history in 1977.

Matheson was also involved in efforts to expand legal aid in Utah, establishing a pro bono Initiative at the S.J.

[5] From 1989 to 1990, Matheson was a visiting professor in the Frank Stanton Chair on the First Amendment at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Matheson is the author of the book Presidential Constitutionalism in Perilous Times (2009) and numerous law review articles.

[7][6] On March 3, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Matheson to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to replace Judge Michael W. McConnell, who resigned in August 2009.

"[9] Hatch, an establishment conservative Republican from Utah, supported Matheson and helped shepherd the nomination through the Senate.