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The thing is, that 0.1% would probably be better off just looking for a Math PhD. I suspect it is much easier to teach a mathematician C (Or Python/Haskell/OCaml/Java) than a programmer real math.

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Math guy here, spent the last year writing high-performance ODE integrators that run on graphics cards. No formal background in CS at all. Hiring maths people to write performative algorithms is more common than not.

The problem is that Math PhDs tend to be arrogant and think that programming is for monkeys and they are above that. Code that they produce tends to be sub-par and under-tested (because they are above writing unit-tests).

Source: worked with multiple Math PhDs. Have a few friends who are Math PhD working on some esoteric problems that I could not understand.

I think you are drawing conclusions from a small sample size. I've had the exact opposite experience.

They can do the algorithms, but they don't engineer, imho.

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