Deborah Berebichez

About Debbie

Interesting Highlights

• Speaks five languages
  
• Worked in Steven Chu’s lab at Stanford
  
• 1st Mexican woman to get a PhD in Physics at Stanford
  
• Enjoys acting and play-writing 

Advice for Students

• Follow through with your curiosity and interests
  
• Science has many different opportunities
  
• Don’t limit yourself
  
• Inspire the next generation
  

Why Physics?

Rediscovering a Childhood Dream
While growing up in Mexico City, Mexico, Debbie dreamed of being an astronaut. Unfortunately, she grew up in a conservative community that usually told girls not to pursue a career in science. With this in mind, Debbie let go of dreams of science and focused on theater and writing.  

While studying philosophy at Brandeis University, Debbie began to think about her love for science once again. During her senior year, she was very interested in physics, but she lacked a background in math.

Debbie’s determination to get a physics education led her to a teaching assistant named Roopesh, who didn’t mind mentoring her, getting her caught up with the basics of physics, and helping her skip the first two years of the undergraduate curriculum in physics. She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and in Physics.

Using Physics

Taking Over Wall Street
What does physics have to do with business and investments? Creating the mathematical models that will assist in the investment process for investments worth thousands and even millions of dollars, that’s what.  

And that’s exactly what Debbie does everyday.

After graduating from Stanford University with a PhD in physics and completing two post-doctoral research positions, Debbie decided that she wanted a life outside of academia and research.

Primarily, in these times of economic instability, measuring the risk of the market's large investments has grown more and more important. To measure the risk, many corporations have turned to people like Debbie for expert advice on the mathematical models that measure risk.

So, she took her analytical skills and math skills to Wall Street. As the Vice President in Risk Analytics, Debbie uses math models and quantitative analysis, like in statistics, to determine how to manage financial risk and to train her clients in using mathematical models to assess financial risk. She also customizes solutions for her clients' risk management needs and their diverse investment processes.

Inspiring Students: The “Oprah” of Science
Debbie says, “I would love to become a female role model for those girls who love science but somehow feel trapped, like they can’t achieve their dreams.” Even though Debbie didn’t pursue a career that was in the science industry, she is still attached to science and is committed to getting young students excited about science.

“I have worked my whole life to acquire the knowledge and skills to communicate science in a fun and relevant way. I want to become the new ‘Oprah’ of science,” says Debbie. With her background in both science and creativity, Debbie is a new type of physicist: one that can understand what it’s like to not understand science and can deliver science to people with different interests and backgrounds.

She believes that most people have an interest in science when they are just kids; their childhood curiosity makes them wonder about the world around them and they want to know how everything works. But, as they grow up, the interest in science starts to fade as their focus redirects to the demands of society to find something that they can start a career in.

What Debbie aims to do is capture that initial interest and preserve it. Even more, she wants their interest to grow and inspire them to look at the world with a new view. When she’s not working on Wall Street, Debbie shares her physics knowledge with people all over the world through her blog, videos, and numerous lectures.

She doesn’t just lecture about physics, but instead, she makes physics entertaining by exploring interesting phenomena and things that we see everyday. Debbie also dedicates much of her talks to getting more women interested in science and encouraging them to make a splash in careers that are usually male-dominated.

Advice for Students

Your Future is For You to Decide
Debbie is a strong advocate for pursuing your dreams and doing what interests you. More importantly, she believes in not letting others define what you can do and what you can’t do. There is no limit to what you can accomplish and the success that you can achieve.

Explore Your Career Options
Debbie wants students everywhere to know that having a degree in science or math does not guarantee you a career in academia. In fact, she likes to point out that careers in academia are limited. While many still pursue careers in academia, Debbie is one of the many who have gone on to other careers that use their physics knowledge.

“There are over one thousand physicists and mathematicians on Wall Street,” says Debbie.

The Strength of Collaboration
“We’re encouraged to communicate to our peers about every result we arrive at. This way science becomes a collective phenomena where one discovery lies on the shoulders of the previous one and so on. It’s very empowering to feel like a strong individual that can contribute to this huge body of knowledge, while at the same time being a member of a large community of people that respect and collaborate with each other,” says Debbie.