“From the time he was little we realized that he was extremely intelligent. In school and college his grades were always excellent. He was always thirsty for knowledge, always looking to learn more and more ”.
It is part of the summary made by the former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Óscar Arias Sánchez, about his son, Óscar Felipe Arias Penón, who is a mathematician and has just entered history thanks to his intelligence.
Óscar Felipe created a formula for calculating interest over time on loans made by banks around the world and this new formula will send the previous formula, the world-famous Libor, to the archive.
The mathematical formula of the Tico was selected by an organization that groups the heavyweights of the planet in the finance market called the International Association of Swaps and Derivatives.
“Today I would like to share with you the enormous pride I feel in knowing that the formula proposed by Óscar Felipe was the one chosen by the ISDA. The formula applies from January, but I, from now on, celebrate with joy this wonderful achievement by Óscar Felipe, which fills all of us in the family with pride ”, Arias Sánchez published on his Facebook profile with his chest full of pride.
Doña Margarita Penón Góngora (former deputy between 2002 and 2005), the mother, told La Nación that “she is a person with great talent. When he finished his master’s degree, he was recruited by the Royal Bank of Scotland and has worked there for many years, more than ten years.
“He is in the quantitative analysis department. What they do is design the products offered by the bank. He is very happy to work there. As a mom I admire him and feel very proud of who he is.
The son of the former president went to school and college at Lincoln. Don Óscar remembers with great happiness how Felipe always did everything he could to increase his knowledge, since what he saw in the classrooms of the school was not enough for his enormous desire to learn.
“While in college he began to go to the University of Costa Rica (UCR) as a listener to advanced mathematics classes. He felt that what they were teaching him at school was mastering him very quickly.
“He always looked for how to move forward, therefore, he also went to the Economic Studies department of the Central Bank of Costa Rica to be put to work on what had to do with numbers, because his goal was to learn every day. It is what today we call internships, I did them out of a pure thirst to learn and from school ”, explains the former president.
When Óscar Felipe graduated from college, he filled out applications for admission to various universities in the United States, including Princeton, Yale, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Harvard.
All the universities accepted him, so he made the decision to study at Harvard, since they offered him a cheek scholarship, in which he did not have to pay even a five.
At Harvard he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and then went on to obtain a master’s degree at the London School of Economics in Political Science, a degree that he also achieved in the same, Applied Mathematics.
“For the whole family it is a tremendous pride that they chose the Oscar Felipe formula. We are very happy that he is a Costa Rican, that clearly shows us that our country has talent and a lot, all we have to do is support them.
“Unfortunately, we do not have good quality in the educational field and it is something that should fill us with deep pain because education is everything. One should ask oneself, tell me how much you know and I will tell you who you are ”, Don Óscar analyzed.
In addition, the former president recalled that there are exceptional ethical minds in all corners of the country and gave as an example the first averages of the admission exams of the UCR and the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC) as well as the National University (UNA).
“One realizes that the first averages are from both rural areas such as the Greater Metropolitan Area, public schools and private schools. We have plenty of great talents, that is why I say that we must support them and make them advance in our educational system ”, he added.
For the Nobel Prize, it is essential that children who demonstrate a thirst for knowledge are greatly encouraged in families.
“I can tell you that Asians are years away from Latin Americans in educational stimulation of their children. They understand very well that education is the fundamental key to the future.
“A student in South Korea, Singapore or China, when leaving the classes of the day they have enormous extra jobs: learning piano, violin, doing sports, languages and a long etcetera, while that does not happen here”, he acknowledged.
Don Óscar made it very clear that his son’s achievement is a triumph for Costa Rica in general, a demonstration of national talent.
“There is pride in the family and it is a great pride because it puts the country on high,” he said.
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Óscar Arias on his son: “Since he was little he was extremely intelligent”