Professional Physicists - Finances

Physicists who pursue careers in the financial field find that their problem solving and analytical skills prepare them well.

Job title:
Vice President & Director

Educational background:
Ph.D. in Physics

What do you do?
I work in financial risk management.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related education?
Mainly, to prove I was smart.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
Yes, in a general sense. Physics is the embodiment of math, philosophy and art. I believe that anybody who has gone through the vigorous training of physics is bound to do well in anything one takes interests in.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
For me, family always comes first, as a so-called "successful" career is a random event. It depends on many factors which are out of my control: luck, timing, the sequence of events, and many other soft skills. As a well trained physicist, I'd bet on something more concrete, such as: the quality of life and family.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
Yes, pursue it. You would not be disappointed. As I said earlier, physics is the embodiment of math, philosophy and art. You'd learn so much in one go. So, why not?

Job title:
Vice President and Director

Educational background:
Bachelors of Science in Physics with Math
Master's in Astrophysics
Ph.D. in Astrophysics and Astronomy

What do you do?
I do risk management information systems development in a securities firm.

Why did you decide to pursue a physics-related education?
Because I was fascinated by everything I read and saw on astronomy/astrophysics and wanted to really understand what the guests on NOVA (PBS) were talking about! There was no other choice for me.

How has your physics background helped you in your career?
It has reinforced and/or developed skills such as ability to think critically/analytically, to be open- minded and see multiple possibilities/solutions to issues or problems (no one answer for any question usually). It has taught me to motivated myself, manage myself, and be clear in intentions, communications, etc. In many ways, it has honed who I am.

On a superficial level, my background gives me (initial) creditability with people I work with (mainly shallow type-As). I don't like this at all but I have observed it to be the case over many years.

How have you balanced family and career commitments?
I think this is a very important question and I'm glad you are asking it. The answer is: by using common sense and trying to be true to myself. Both family and professional (as well as other lives such as civic, environmental, i.e. human) lives are vital. You do yourself a huge disservice if you do not attempt to find balance between the various aspects of your being.

In my experience, for the most part, the organization you work for and your bosses do not care if you live a balanced and healthy life. In fact, the individual sometimes does not seem to care, either. But if you have the awareness that it should be otherwise (i.e. if you realize a happy, healthy, and fulfilled life is multi-dimensional) then you will make it a priority to seek balance.

I do not look for the organization to actively help me realize/find a equilibrium, but rather make it known in a quiet but professional way that this is a basic requirement for me to function well (and therefore work even better). I have stressed to the people I work with/for that the equilibrium is dynamic - sometimes work will take a larger share of my time, sometimes not. For me, the key has been to be clear, proactive and not apologetic about what I believe in. I refuse to blindly trust that the organization knows what is good for the individual as a whole.

Do you have any advice for college students who are interested in pursuing careers in physics?
I am not sure I can comment on pursuing a career in physics (as I did not). I would encourage all who are interested to follow their hearts and their dreams about learning and know that a physics education will give you extremely valuable tools/skills that will serve you well down what ever road you find yourself on. This of course can be said of any field that you study where you are engaged with the material and the philosophy behind it.

A final two cents worth on the subject of a physics education: don't cut out other (non-physical science-based) disciplines in your pursuit of a physics education (if your school/program does not accommodate, fight for the curriculum to be changed) I think they had it right in the long past when a philosophy degree required extensive study of mathematics and science. I wish the reciprocal had been the requirement when I was a student.

Will studying physics give you an advantage over others (who have not studied physics)?
(I add this question as, when I was in high school and university, physics students were kind of like rock stars; they were way smarter than everyone else in the school put together. It was definitely what the elite scientific intelligentsia studied.)
No! You are in serious trouble if you think so.

What does it mean to be a female studying/working in such a male-dominated field?
It means not what most people think. Many years ago, I had the great fortune to work with physicists in France (at The Centre for Nuclear Research at Saclay, outside Paris). Those women physicists who chose to be/look feminine did so without discomfort or apology (leather skirts and low cut blouses included!). This was definitely not the case with North American physicist/scholars in the 80's and 90's. In graduate school, I was told repeatedly to emulate the most masculine facility/students in appearance and behavior (even though I was not overly feminine)! This advice struck me to the core as being completely damaging and wrong.

I strongly feel that the world (including the world of physics) needs women who are proud and comfortable being women (with all the "soft" and "hard" things that being a woman implies). Hard science, logic and all the rest of it are not mutually exclusive to being "soft". My own opinion is that women who think emulating men is the higher/purer road are doing themselves and others a grave injustice. I want to stress that my comments are for women who are actively discouraged from being feminine (not those who are comfortable being who they are).