The whiteboard in Luz Rocio Sotomayor’s office reads right out of an episode of “Numb3rs,” the television drama about a math genius who helps the FBI solve crimes using mathematical equations.
Though Sotomayor, an assistant professor in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance in the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, rarely watches the show, she once paused an episode to see if the formulas seemed real.
“I’m geeky,” Sotomayor says. “Sometimes I stop the show. The formulas are believable.”
She adds, “It’s good to see Hollywood showing sane mathematicians. Most movies with mathematicians show them as a little crazy.”
Those movies include, “A Beautiful Mind” and “Proof.”
Sotomayor, who goes by Rocio, is crazy for mathematics, not to mention finance. The native of Peru is using her math genius to discover new formulas in hopes of solving the investment conundrum. Much of the research and many of the formulas out there don't consider things such as lower rates of return during economic downturns.
Beyond math equations, Sotomayor can be found watching international films or traveling to faraway places and learning about new cultures. She enjoys soccer and speaks four languages.
In case you wondered, she is of no relation to the recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
“But I’m happy people now know how to spell my name,” she says.