Roberto Hernández is a Mexican-American first-generation student, currently a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate
in the Department of Mathematics at Emory University and will be on the job market in the fall of 2025. He
attended California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) as an undergraduate where he received his B.A. in
Pure Mathematics in 2020. He is studying diophantine geometry under the supervision of his advisor,
David Zureick-Brown.
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Roberto comes from an under-privileged community in Los Angeles where the norm is to earn a high
school diploma and immediately enter the workforce, without pursuing any higher education. His parents
both migrated from Mexico, specifically, his father from Mexico City and his mother from Tampico,
Tamaulipas. They received minimal formal education, both only reaching a middle school-level education.
Despite societal standards that access to education is the almost only means to reach success, his
parents have always given him everything he has needed to thrive. Roberto attributes a lot of his success
to the morals his family has always instilled in him. Their constant support was also instrumental to his
success, his path towards the doctorate isn’t one typically taken by someone in his community. Despite
the lack of access historically given to a community like his, he decided to continue his studies and work
towards a Ph.D. given his natural affinity towards the subject.
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Roberto’s academic upbringing was a positive experience, specifically at his undergraduate institution. He
felt as though all the faculty he interacted with genuinely wanted him to succeed. He was able to
participate in numerous research projects over the summer. Among these include Preparing
Undergraduates through Mentoring for Math (PUMP), a summer program which focused on the
exploration of advanced mathematics to students who have not reached upper division courses and
granted him the opportunity to work closely with students and faculty of color. PUMP was influential in his
development as a mathematician.
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Now as a graduate student, Roberto has served as a teaching assistant and taught many courses
including Calculus I and Calculus II. His focus and priority has always been how he can get students to
have a concrete and fulfilling experience in a mathematics course – something which does not have the
best reputation among students. One of his main goals is for his students to not be afraid of the subject.
The response he hears the most is that math is “not for them”. He actively pushes against that by showing
them, through his experiences, that math can be for anyone and you don’t have to act or look a certain
way to be successful. He often remarks that it’s okay to be wrong, and in fact we should encourage it
because it is when we learn the most. He likes to give his class historical remarks about the content
they’re covering because it gives the material some personality and helps students appreciate both the art
and beauty in mathematics. Some of the best feedback he’s received at the end of a semester is that his
students are excited to take the next math course because of him, and that they’ve never had an
instructor who looks like him and that has inspired them to also pursue a degree in mathematics. His
hope is that he can inspire the next wave of mathematicians as his mentors inspired him in the past.

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Beyond academics, Roberto also enjoys watching sports, particularly soccer, and loves to play video
games. His goal is to be in a position where he can inspire the next generation of mathematicians,
particularly those from under-served communities. He believes in making higher education more
accessible for low-income households, and that coming from a privileged background shouldn’t be a
determining factor for how far one can take their education.

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“I refer to myself as a Mexican-American because I am proud of the culture I represent and because I am
not shy about being who I am. Celebrating the achievements of brown people is something I always look
to for inspiration. There are so few of us in the mathematical space but I am grateful to those who I’ve
crossed paths with and have helped get me here. Representation matters so much and so during
Hispanic Heritage Month I think it’s important we look back to those who were instrumental in helping us
get to where we are.”

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