Robert Karp, Ph.D. 2004

Ph.D. Mathematics, 2004

How has being a Mathematics graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?

"First of all it was a great environment overall. Aside from taking demanding courses, and growing a lot, I felt it was easy to interact with faculty, and learn about various topics. The daily "Tea" was always an opportunity to catch up, discuss with colleagues and faculty; it was an important part of the culture."

What advice would you give students in Duke's Mathematics programs?

"In hindsight, I feel that sometimes I became unnecessarily obsessed with abstract algebraic geometry, searching for the absolute truth, investing significant effort into things that had no impact on my research. But that came with the freedom I so much enjoyed. The upside of these passionate detours is that I learned how to learn, how to tackle diverse topics, which I feel is the most important aspect of a good education. I left academia 10 years ago, even though most of my life I could not image a career outside academia. I worked at 4 financial institutions in these 10 years. I build mathematical models, spend a lot of time with data, analyzing, writing code, building systems, supervising processes, constantly interacting with business. Even though there is significant complexity involved, it seems easy if you have solid foundations and you know how to learn quickly. That comes from hard work, preferably on a topic that fascinates you."