RIT economics alumnus represents Dominican Republic at World Bank Group

When Julio Eduardo Diaz Sosa ’12 arrived at Rochester Institute of Technology from the Dominican Republic, he was adjusting to a new country, a new language, and a new academic environment.

More than a decade later, the economics and finance alumnus is representing his home country at one of the world’s most influential financial institutions.

Diaz Sosa currently serves as an advisor to the executive director at the World Bank Group, where he represents the Dominican Republic as part of a broader constituency of countries at the organization’s Board of Directors. In that role, he participates in committees and contributes to discussions connected to international development, finance, and economic policy.

For Diaz Sosa, the path to that work began at RIT.

“RIT’s comprehensive education is unique,” he said. “It may sound like a cliché, but it’s not.”

Diaz Sosa credits RIT’s co-op program as one of the most important parts of his undergraduate experience. While at RIT, he completed a co-op at the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, where he was able to apply what he was learning in the classroom to real work in economics and finance.

“That brought me to a career in international finance,” he said. “I grabbed the knowledge in practice, so I applied that knowledge in my work day to day. And that was the start of my career.”

After RIT and graduate school, Diaz Sosa worked at the World Bank as an economist, applying knowledge in areas such as national accounts. He later worked as a senior data scientist at Gartner in the financial services practice, where his work included developing financial models, conducting evaluations and surveys, and creating automation tools to improve the accuracy of financial reporting.

Now back at the World Bank Group, Diaz Sosa said the skills he developed at RIT continue to shape the way he approaches complex professional challenges.

“Given the current landscape of the job market, RIT prepares students for critical thinking and problem solving,” he said. “You cannot replicate problem solving and critical thinking abilities. That’s something that you need to learn on a day-to-day basis, and RIT courses push you in that direction.”

Diaz Sosa said his liberal arts education was especially valuable because it gave him a broad intellectual foundation alongside his technical and financial training. During his first year at RIT, he remembers taking courses in sociology and philosophy and studying thinkers such as Émile Durkheim and Max Weber.

Those courses, he said, were not disconnected from his career path. They helped him build the analytical habits that would later support his work in economics, data, finance, and global development.

“These are the courses that enhanced my critical thinking skills,” Diaz Sosa said. “That paved the way to succeed at RIT and in life.”

That combination of liberal arts and technology, he said, is one of RIT’s strongest advantages.

At a time when artificial intelligence and automation are changing the way people work, Diaz Sosa believes the ability to think critically, solve problems, and understand people and systems is becoming even more important.

“Many skills are advancing because of AI,” he said. “I’m not saying that you don’t need to learn how to code, but liberal arts education will put you ahead in terms of critical thinking.”

He added that RIT’s ability to combine liberal arts learning with a technology-focused environment gives graduates a distinctive advantage.

“Combining that education with technology is a big plus for RIT that not many schools can replicate in the country and in the world,” he said.

Outside the classroom, Diaz Sosa was involved in Model United Nations and the Latin American Student Association. Those experiences helped him build community while also strengthening his interest in international issues, culture, and global affairs.

His advice to current students is direct: take the opportunity seriously, lean into the full RIT experience, and do not underestimate the value of both technical and human skills.

“RIT is a great place to start your education because it combines the technical and the soft skills that you need to succeed in the current labor market,” Diaz Sosa said. “Don’t be afraid. Just fight as a tiger.”