Several people have pointed out this NY Times piece about the math babe.

Danica actually has a website of her own from which the following, confounding all of us who thought she was half Chinese:

“I’ve been asked if I were Asian, Hawaiian, Greek, etc. The truth is, I’m a big mix of Western Europe. I’m mostly Portuguese (this is my mom’s side), via the Azores and Madeira Islands. These are both groups of islands in the Atlantic ocean settled by the Portuguese in 1418. This means that my mom’s side is probably a fair mix of Portuguese and native Islander! On my dad’s side, I’m part Scottish (hence McKellar), and a little each of: German, Spanish, French, and Dutch.”