Raúl Guinovart Díaz

Raúl Guinovart Díaz is the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computation at the University of Havana. A graduate in Education specializing in Mathematics from the class of 1984, Guinovart has always had an inclination toward teaching. Mathematics is his preferred language and he expresses it through a graph, a curve, an algorithm. Raúl Guinovart Díaz feels comfortable in that field which enables him, on scientific grounds, to make predictions and forecasts.

Ginovart drew the attention of many Cubans when he presented possible estimates of COVID-19 evolution in Cuba, based on mathematical models that were expressed in curves, representing the quantity of possible cases in the country over the following weeks. Although the fulfillment of the more or less favorable estimates depended on numerous social factors, difficult to predict, life has been confirming these forecasts.

Son of a humble and large family, he acknowledges that all his knowledge was acquired at school through his teachers, including his taste for mathematics. He was born in El Vedado, swam in the Malecón, raised pigeons, flew kites and paper kites, and during carnivals built carts and small wooden carts. He played with the neighborhood adults at checkers, parcheesi and chess; he liked the statistics in them. And he had the quality of inventing many tabletop pastimes with paper and cardboard.

Raúl studied at the Saúl Delgado pre-university school, in El Vedado. He was a normal student who got good grades and had some ability in mathematics. During that time, teachers were being requested for middle and upper-middle education, and although some didn't want to, he was interested and thus was admitted to study at the Pedagogical University of Havana.

Between 1982 and 1984 he was part of the International Pedagogical Detachment "Che Guevara" and along with a group of colleagues went to Angola to teach. There he lived incredible experiences. It was complex and motivating work. He finished his university studies in 1984.

In the 1990s, Raúl Guinovart worked in his profession at the Higher Pedagogical Institute "Enrique José Varona," today the University of Pedagogical Sciences in Ciudad Libertad, in the municipality of Marianao. A competitive examination led him to apply to the Faculty of Mathematics and Computation at the University of Havana to become part of its teaching staff.

There were several competitors with much experience, but he didn't despair and prepared well, and thus won the position.

"La Colina is a special place for science in Cuba in all areas. The professors, the researchers and, above all the students, are brilliant. Working here was a dream I had and I was able to fulfill it," he has stated.

In 1993 he earned a master's degree in Mathematics from the University of Havana and later a doctorate.

Since 1996 he has worked as a professor at the Faculty and in 2013 assumed the position of Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computation at the University of Havana but still continues teaching students in the regular daytime courses and occasionally in postgraduate courses. He has taught Topology for the Mathematics program and Mathematical Analysis at the Faculty of Physics.

Transmitting the love for mathematics requires much dedication and Raúl Guinovart is aware of this.

Mathematics, the specialist notes, "educates logical thinking and intuition. Furthermore, it is the language of science; it underlies the root of all problems. It has a practical sense, an aesthetic one, and serves to explain the phenomena of nature, society and thought." Similarly, "it can anticipate what is going to happen, it helps to predict, to estimate and improve productive processes and services, making them more efficient. It contributes to unveiling patterns and establishing relationships that are not evident."

Graduates of this profession can be part of multidisciplinary teams in research centers and solve problems by simulating situations that help decide the best way to proceed.

As a result of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Cuban scientists have played a leading role. Raúl Guinovart, together with other colleagues, was involved in the creation of a mathematical model that reflected when and how the peak of the disease would behave on the Island.

Regarding the mathematical models used to be applied to this disease, Raúl Guinovart warns that these can be modified depending on people's behavior. That is why they have a very relative range of validity; they guide and help make decisions to improve the results desired.

Dr. Raúl Guinovart has always gone unnoticed among the people in his neighborhood, so appearing on television explaining the results obtained with the created model put him in everyone's spotlight. Now there are many professors working on models and the analysis of different problems that may arise, such as how many hospital beds we would need if new cases appear, how to rotate medical personnel, what effectiveness different medications or treatments have had. There are different mathematical theories and several groups of colleagues participate in them with very good results.

He has theoretical scientific experience, has worked with friends in a research group on Composite Materials Modeling, having done so for more than 25 years, publishing scientific articles and winning several awards from the Academy of Sciences of Cuba.

This work trains you, forces you to think about a problem at all hours, to look at it from different points of view, not to be carried away by emotions and to distrust your work until you achieve an answer that you can prove with some mathematical theory.

Raúl Guinovart has projects aimed at directing the Data Sciences program and the Data Analytics Laboratory that they want to open at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computation.

Furthermore, continuing research on health topics and the development of mathematical models and following the line of composite materials that he has worked on for years.

Nevertheless, now everything is more complex for him. Accustomed to the anonymity that his profession gave him, he has had to learn to live with collective recognition.

"Research was something I always did without people noticing. I enjoyed the articles in silence and with few friends. When I finished writing one, there was another waiting.

"At these moments, people notice what you do, some applaud you and others question you. Above all, there are those who expect you to give them some idea of what will happen and good news. Yesterday I was invisible and today I speak with ministers and many important people. It really scares me and I don't stop working. I hope this passes, with the pandemic.

Raúl Ginovart has a son, a mathematician, a graduate of this Faculty, who at this moment is doing a doctorate abroad; he and his wife are alone. His wife helps him greatly, not just now, because being dean of a Faculty entails much sacrifice and work, and she supports him greatly; she also has her responsibilities, she is a department head, she is a biostatistician, she works at the Calixto García Faculty, she is a professional.