Facts & Trivia

 

In the line of duty - Our Fallen Americans of Vietnamese decent

  • Army Spc. Dan H. Nguyen  Died: May 08, 2007

    - 24, of Sugar Land, Texas; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died May 8 in Tahrir, Iraq, when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small-arms fire.

  • Army Sgt. Long N. Nguyen   Died: February 10, 2007

    - 27, of Portland, Ore.; assigned to the 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Oregon National Guard, Portland, Ore.; died Feb. 10 of a non-combat-related wound in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.

  • Army Sgt. 1st Class Tung M. Nguyen   - Died: November 14, 2006

    - 38, of Tracy, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Nov. 14 of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad.

  • Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew S. Dang   - Died: March 22, 2004

    - 20, of Foster City, Calif.; assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed March 22 by hostile fire near Ramadi, Iraq.

  • Marine Cpl. Binh N. Le   - Died: December 03, 2004

    - 20, of Alexandria, Va.; assigned to 5th Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Dec. 3 of injuries sustained in enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

    USMC Corporal Binh N. Le, a True Hero laid to rest - Video Clip, a Thang La Production

  • Army Spc. Quoc Binh Tran   - Died: November 07, 2004

    - 26, of Mission Viejo, Calif.; assigned to the 181st Support Battalion, California Army National Guard, San Bernardino, Calif.; died Nov. 7 of wounds sustained that same day when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle as he was conducting convoy operations in Baghdad.

  • Marine Lance Cpl. Victor R. Lu   - Died: November 13, 2004

    - 22, of Los Angeles; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. 13 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

  • Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lam   - Died: November 08, 2004

    - 22, of Queens, N.Y.; assigned to the 6th Communications Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, Marine Corps Reserve, Brooklyn, N.Y.; killed Nov. 8 in a non-hostile vehicle incident in Anbar province, Iraq.

  • Lance Cpl. Alan Dinh Lam   - Died: April 22, 2003

    - 19, of Snow Camp, N.C; assigned to the 8th Communication Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed in a non-hostile accident when a rocket-propelled grenade launcher being fired for familiarization malfunctioned near Kut, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.

  • Robert Nguyen was the first Vietnamese American to serve as a Jersey City police officer. He served on the police department for 6 years prior to his death in the line of duty.

  • Army Spc. Dan H. Nguyen  Died: May 08, 2007

    - 24, of Sugar Land, Texas; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died May 8 in Tahrir, Iraq, when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small-arms fire.

  • Army Sgt. Long N. Nguyen   Died: February 10, 2007

    - 27, of Portland, Ore.; assigned to the 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Oregon National Guard, Portland, Ore.; died Feb. 10 of a non-combat-related wound in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan.

  • Army Sgt. 1st Class Tung M. Nguyen   - Died: November 14, 2006

    - 38, of Tracy, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Nov. 14 of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad.

  • Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew S. Dang   - Died: March 22, 2004

    - 20, of Foster City, Calif.; assigned to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed March 22 by hostile fire near Ramadi, Iraq.

  • Marine Cpl. Binh N. Le   - Died: December 03, 2004

    - 20, of Alexandria, Va.; assigned to 5th Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Dec. 3 of injuries sustained in enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

    USMC Corporal Binh N. Le, a True Hero laid to rest - Video Clip, a Thang La Production

  • Army Spc. Quoc Binh Tran   - Died: November 07, 2004

    - 26, of Mission Viejo, Calif.; assigned to the 181st Support Battalion, California Army National Guard, San Bernardino, Calif.; died Nov. 7 of wounds sustained that same day when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle as he was conducting convoy operations in Baghdad.

  • Marine Lance Cpl. Victor R. Lu   - Died: November 13, 2004

    - 22, of Los Angeles; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. 13 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

  • Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lam   - Died: November 08, 2004

    - 22, of Queens, N.Y.; assigned to the 6th Communications Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, Marine Corps Reserve, Brooklyn, N.Y.; killed Nov. 8 in a non-hostile vehicle incident in Anbar province, Iraq.

  • Lance Cpl. Alan Dinh Lam   - Died: April 22, 2003

    - 19, of Snow Camp, N.C; assigned to the 8th Communication Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed in a non-hostile accident when a rocket-propelled grenade launcher being fired for familiarization malfunctioned near Kut, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.

General Facts


  • The modern Vietnamese language is the only one in Indochina to use a Roman script. It was invented by a French missionary, Father Alexander-de-Rhodes, in the 17th century and employs six vocal tones in the north and five in the south.

  • Estimated at over 1.12 million, the Vietnamese American population is the fourth largest Asian ethnic group in the U.S. after Filipina/o Americans, Chinese Americans, and Asian Indian Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). This figure represents an 83 percent increase in the past decade.

  • The country of Vietnam has the same geographic size of California (35 million people), but has the 13th largest population in the world (82,689,518 - Data are estimates from mid-2003).

  • By 1990, the median household income of Vietnamese Americans stood at $29,772, more than double what it had been the previous decade and almost equal to the $30,056 median income of all American households.

    Moreover, the per capita income of the Vietnamese American population was $11,027, compared to $14,420 for all Americans and $15,687 for white Americans. In percentage terms, the Vietnamese American per capita income was 31 percent and 42 percent less than those of the entire U.S. population and the white population, respectively.

    Vietnamese Amercican - Maps and Demographics

  • In Georgia, Gwinnett County has a law that forbids residents from keeping rabbits as pets. The county livestock law restricts rabbits to farm areas and homes with at least three acres of land. The law was amended in 1993 to allow Vietnamese potbellied pigs as pets after a woman with a pet pig pleaded for the exemption.

Trivia


  • Tiger Woods was named "Tiger" -- given him by his dad, in honor of his dad's South Vietnamese combat buddy, Nguyen Phong, who saved Tiger's father's life in the Vietnam War.

  • The Official Rubik's Cube World Record - Minh Thai: A sixteen year-old Vietnamese American high school student from Los Angeles, won the world championship in Budapest (June 1982) by unscrambling the Rubik's Cube in 22.95 seconds.

  • Tara House (Atlanta, GA) - The original home in Gone With The Wind and a national historic site and museum, sits on the site previously operated as a Vietnamese restaurant by Mr. & Mrs. Truyen The Pham.

  • Café Du Monde (New Orleans, LA) - Manager & Large Staff Are Vietnamese Americans.

  • There are 1.3 million Vietnamese people in America.

  • San Jose, California has the largest Vietnamese population outside of Viet Nam, ranked by city.

  • Southern California has the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam, ranked by region.

  • The country of Vietnam has the same geographic size of California (35 million people), but has the 16th largest population in the world (more than 80 million people).

  • Between 1965 -1975, approximately 3000 Vietnamese War orphans were adopted by American families. Many of these adopted children are today, as young adults, developing their own Vietnamese community organizations, such as Adopted Vietnamese International and The Vietnamese Adoptee Network.

  • Hoi Cho Tet (San Jose, CA) - Since 1982, TET (Lunar/Chinese New Year) Celebration organized by the Coalition of Nationalist Vietnamese Oranizations of Northern California is the longest running Vietnamese New Year festival/fair in the United States.

  • Indochinese Resettlement & Cultural Center founded by Vu Van Loc is the first Vietnamese American non-profit organization.

  • In 1979, the Vietnamese American Community of Ponoma, California became the first Vietnamese American community to be incorporated in the United States.

  • Miss Viet Nam Tet Pageant of Northern California is the longest running beauty pageant in the Vietnamese American community. It was established in 1987.

  • Ut Van Nguyen (Carrollton, TX) - Winner of the "Mega Millions" in Texas, on Saturday, October 2, 2004. The winning numbers were 8-10-17-24-39, and the Mega Ball was 52. The jackpot was $101 million. Mr. Nguyen chose to collect his winnings with the cash value option, which was $62,060,880. Mr. Nguyen plans to help finance the construction of a religious temple near Duncanville. He and his family also hope to return to Vietnam to help relatives, build a school and assist an orphanage.

  • In 2004, Henry Huong Le, co-founder of Lee’s Sandwiches, acquired Father Ryan House in Biloxi, Mississippi. Father Ryan House is a historic building dating back to 1840 and listed as a Biloxi Landmark. Father Abraham Ryan was a poet, painter, and chaplain to Jefferson Davis, who was the President of the Confederate Army.

Presidential Appointees


  • President Bush appointed Nina Nguyen Collier of Washington as a Member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in his second term.

    The White House - Personnel Announcement May 27, 2004

  • Mr. Andrew Ly Thanh Buhr (Bush 43) – Member, Commission on Presidential Scholars

  • Mr. Viet Dinh (Bush 43) - Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy, Department of Justice

  • Mr. John Quoc Duong (Bush 43) – Executive Director, The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

  • Mr. Phu Huynh (Clinton) – Special Assistant to the Deputy Director Vanessa Weaver, Office of Presidential Personnel - The White House

  • Mr. Frank "Trieu Phat" Jao (Bush 43) – Member, Vietnam Education Foundation

  • Ms. Ngoan Le (Clinton) - Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

  • Dr. Ngai Xuan Nguyen (Bush 43) – Member, National Heart, Lung & Blood Advisory Council, Department of Health & Human Services

  • Mr. Bich Ngoc Nguyen (Bush 41) – Deputy Director, Office of Bilingual Education, Department of Education

  • Dr. Hanh V. Nguyen (Bush 41 & Bush 43) – Deputy Director (41); Director (43), Office of Refugee Resettlement, Department of Health and Human Services

  • Ms. Mina Nguyen (Bush 43) – Director of Public Liaison, Department of Labor

  • Ms. Zoon Dung Nguyen (Clinton) – Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing, Department of Housing & Urban Development

  • Ms. Anne Doan-Trang Pham (Clinton) – Special Assistant to the US Ambassabor for War Crimes David Shaffer, Department of State

  • Mr. Dang Pham (Clinton) - Director, Office of Bilingual Education, Department of Education

  • Mr. Joseph Tuan Pham (Bush 43) – Member, Vietnam Education Foundation

  • Mr. Kien Pham (Reagan/Bush 41) – Special Assistant, Department of Defense

  • Ms. Mary Chi Ray (Bush 41) – Deputy Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Department of Health and Human Services

  • Ms. Catherine Trinh (Bush 43) – Special Assistant to the Assistant Director, Office of Management and Budget

  • Ms. My Chau Truong (Bush 43) – Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of the Office of English Acquisition (formerly Bilingual Education), Department of Education

  • Ms. Minh Vu (Bush 43) – Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of Justice

  • Mr. Bao Ky N. Vu (Bush 43) – Member, President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Vietnamese American Elected Officials


  • State

    • Van Thai Tran - CA State Assembly, District 68 (elected 2004)

    • Hubert Vo - TX State Legislature, District 149 (elected 2004)



  • City Councils

    • Mr. Tony Quang Lam (First Vietnamese American To Be Elected To Public Office in the United States,) City Council Member, Westminster, CA (1992-2002)

    • Nguyen Minh Chau (First Vietnamese American Woman To Be Elected To Public Office in the United States,) Town Council Member, Garrett Park, MD (1995 - 2003)

    • Vinh Cam - Township of Greenwich, CT, District 10 (elected 2001)

    • Andy Quach - City of Westminster, CA (elected 2002)

    • Hien Dai Nguyen - Clarkston, GA (elected 2003)

    • Phuong Tan Huynh - Bayou La Batre, AL (elected 2004)

    • Janet Nguyen - City of Garden Grove, CA (elected 2004)

    • John Tran - City of Rosemead, CA (elected 2005)

    • Madison Nguyen - City of San Jose, CA (elected 2005)



  • School Boards

    • Lan Quoc Nguyen - Garden Grove Unified School District, CA (elected 2002)

    • Madison Phuong Nguyen - Franklin McKinley School District, CA (elected 2002)

    • Lan Nguyen - East Side Union High School District, CA (elected 2004)

    • Trung Nguyen - Garden Grove Unified School District, CA (elected 2004)

    • Kim Oanh Nguyen-Lam - Garden Grove Unified School District, CA (elected 2004)

    • Nghi Ho, first Vietnamese American ever elected to public office in Texas, was elected Republican Pct. Chairman and to the Alief Independent School Board in Houston, Texas in 1996, 1998 and re-elected May 7, 2005.



  • Commissions/Boards

    • Amy Hoang Wrona - Advisory Neighborhood Commission, Ward 3, District of Columbia (re-elected 2004)



Vietnamese Student Associations

Arts & Entertainment


  • Tony Bui (Los Angeles, CA) - Director of Award-Winning Film 3 Seasons

  • Kieu Chinh (Los Angeles, CA) - Legendary actress for over 40 years with roles in Joy Luck Club and M.A.S.H..

  • Minh Van Dang (Location Unknown) First Vietnamese American to win the Emmy Award.

  • Thien-Bao Phi has twice won the Minnesota Grand Poetry Slam, and also won two poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York. He remains the only Vietnamese American man to have appeared on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and the National Poetry Slam Individual Finalists Stage, where he placed 6th overall out of over 250 national slam poets.

  • Truc Ho, President, Asia Entertainment

  • Thuy Nga (CA) - Paris By Night Productions

  • Dustin Nguyen (Los Angeles, CA) - Actor in VIP, 21 Jump Street and General Hospital. Dustin's Destiny by John Esther

  • Mary Nguyen (Location Unknown) "Model Revlon's Most Unforgettable Woman of 1989, chosen in a search across the U.S., is Mary Xinh Nguyen, a 20-year-old Vietnamese American from California." (Time Magazine - Sep. 25 1989)

  • Navia Nguyen (New York, NY & London) - First Asian Model to appear in Sports Illustrated Magazine's annual swimsuit. Selected by People Magazine as being among the "50 Most Beautiful People - 1996".

  • Scotty Nguyen (Henderson, Nevada) - He is one of the best and most well-rounded poker players around. He is also among the highest earning tournament players of all time. Some of the titles he has won are: 1998 World Series of Poker Champion, Pot Limit Omaha at the 2001 World Series of Poker, and Omaha High Low at the 1997 World Series.

  • Elyzabeth Pham (Wisconsin) - Crowned Miss Wisconsin 1999.

  • Dat Phan (San Diego, CA) - Winner of Last Comic Standing.

  • Trinh T. Minh Ha is a filmmaker, writer and composer, The recipient of several awards and grants (including the AFI National Independent Filmmaker Maya Deren Award, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Film Institute, and the California Arts Council).

  • Ham Tran wrote, produced, and directed a film about the Viet Nam diaspora called, Journey From The Fall. Ham Tran graduated from UCLA with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television. Tran's thesis film The Anniversary won the prestigious USA Film Festival award for Best Short Film.

  • M. Trinh Nguyen studied Cinema at San Francisco State University and completed her first film, Xích-lô (Cyclo), in 1996. Xích-lô (Cyclo)'s national television broadcast premiere was in August 1996, on PBS's P.O.V. program. It has also screened in numerous festivals and venues.

  • Quang-Tuan Luong is a professional photographer with a broad range of work in travel, nature, adventure, and large format photography. X84, PhD U. Paris 1992. First (and possibly only) person to have photographed each of the 58 US National Parks in large format (5x7 inch). Editorial credits include Time, US News and World Report, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, Outside, Discover, Scientific American, GEO.

  • Amazin Le Thi, is the first Vietnamese born woman and Asian body builder to have ever entered into the entertainment industry.

  • Jennifer Le, 32, handling 20-30 cases daily as a prosecutor in Orange County, was selected for Primarius in Martha Stewart's Apprentice Show.

  • Lynnphuong Frazier was crowned Ms. Virginia Globe 2006. She is the first Asian-American to hold the Virginia State Title.

  • Born & raised as a native Houstonian, Carol Nguyen has become a rookie on the 2006 Houston Texans Cheerleading Squad. In May of 2005, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a BBA in Finance & Business Honors from the McCombs School of Business.

  • Eryk Bui became an IFBB professional at the 2004 NPC National Bodybuilding Championships in Dallas, Texas.

Business


  • Julie Nguyen Brown (Dearborn, MI) -- Founder and CEO, Plastech Engineered Products Inc. Her Plastech Engineered Products Inc., a Dearborn-based maker of automotive plastic parts, bought LDM Technologies Inc. for $290 million. The deal nearly doubled the size of Plastech and makes Plastech one of the world's largest minority-owned auto suppliers. Plastech expected to end 2004 with revenue of $1.5 billion.

  • Thao Dang (San Jose, CA) - Named by Century 21 as "#1 Salesperson in the World" in 2002, in a company of over 100,000 agents and brokers.

  • Frank Jao (Huntington Beach, CA) - Principal developer of Little Saigon. The proprietor of Phuoc Loc Tho Shopping Center (Asian Garden Mall) in Westminster, California, which is the principal landmark of Little Saigon.

  • Thanh Lam (Honolulu, HI) - President of Ba-Le Sandwich & Bakery in Hawaii was named the 2002 National Small Business Person of the Year. There are over 25 Ba-Le Sandwich throughout Hawaii.

  • Chieu Le (San Jose, CA) - President of Lee's Sandwiches International. Lee’s Sandwiches was awarded the 2003 Regional Entrepreneurial Success Award and Chieu Le was awarded Orange County Business Person of the Year. There are over 20 Lee's Sandwiches throughout California, Arizona and Texas.

  • Hua Ngo (San Francisco, CA) - President of H&N Seafood, with sales exceeding $300 million annually. H&N Seafood was responsible for popularizing "basa" (catfish) in the United States.

  • Dr. Luan Duy Nguyen (Austin, TX) - He is the co-founder, CEO and president of the first Vietnamese-American (VA) owned company, Web Office Inc., in US that has products already distributed in S. Korea, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Singapore, and to be distributed early this year in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Hong Kong, China, Korea, and Taiwan. His company received the Export Achievement Award from U.S. Department of Commerce in August 2003.

  • Pho Hoa (Sacramento, CA) - The first Vietnamese-American pho noodle franchise in the world.

Education


  • Chuong Hoang Chung (San Francisco, CA)- He started the first Vietnamese American Studies Program in the United States, at San Francisco State University.

  • Yen Le Espiritu (San Diego, CA) - Professor of Ethnic Studies at University California, San Diego. Most known for her book Asian American Panethnicity, which has moved the discourse in Asian American/Ethnic studies.

  • Dr. Charles Cuong Nguyen (Washington, D.C.) – He is the First VietnameseAmerican Dean of a major College in the U.S.

  • Hoa Dinh Nguyen (Illinois) Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Foreign Languages and Literature. Published a Vietnamese-English Dictionary.

  • Kien Nguyen (Davis, CA) - Professor of Anesthesiology at UC Davis; authored and co-authored 81+ scientific articles and book chapters in physiology and anesthesiology.

  • Huong Tran Nguyen (Long Beach, CA) -- Recipient of the 1994 "Disney National Outstanding Teacher of the Year" and "Disney National Outstanding Foreign Language and English as a Second Language Assistant Professor of Education at California State University, Long Beach"

  • Tue Nguyen (Fremont, CA) - At age 26, Tue broke Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) record when he earned 7 degrees, including a Ph.D.

  • Dang Pham (San Jose, CA) - A Presidential appointee under President Clinton's Administration. He served as the Director Of Bilingual Education and was the highest ranking Asian American in the U.S. Department of Education at the time.

  • Hoang Nhu Tran (Location Unknown) - In 1987, Hoang Nhu Tran, a former Vietnamese boat person, the first Vietnamese-American Rhodes Scholar, and Time Magazine's recipient of the 1986 College Achievement Award, graduated number one in his Air Force Academy class of 960 students.

  • Kathleen Diem-Anh Tran is the second Vietnamese American Rhodes Scholar. She won this award in 2003.

  • Ho Thi Xuan Trang is the third Vietnamese American Rhodes Scholar. She won this award in 2006. She is a 2005 Truman Scholar from Nebraska

  • Jean Nguyen (Location Unknown) - She graduated from the US Military Academy, West Point and was showcased by President Ronald Reagan for her achievements during his televised Presidential State of the Union Address.

  • Long Vinh Ngo, a seventeen years-old who taught himself English by memorizing "British novels, ranging from classics to Agatha Christie" and learned proper pronunciations from playing old phonograph records called "English without Toil" that were given to him by a Christian missionary, is the first Vietnamese to attend Harvard directly from Vietnam.

  • Trinh Ngoc Tran, a Vietnamese American student at the George Washington University, is among four students who received the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. medal at a convocation celebration held by GW Multicultural Student Services Center on Jan. 26.

  • Nghi H Nguyen, civil engineer, a 1990 HO immigrant, at 72 year old, is the co-author of three new math methods. He and two American math teachers have been working on publishing a few supplemental math text books that they believe are needed to improve math skills of high school students. These three new math methods are presented in three new math books titled "Solving math quadratic equations & inequalities"; "Linear equations, inequalities, & functions"; "Trigonometry: Solving trigonometric equations & inequalities".

  • STCC Alumnus, Thang D. Nguyen is a an Official at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Publishes Book on Indonesia.

Fashion


  • Marc Nguyen (Garden Grove, CA) – He is a fashion designer for Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five.

  • Navia Nguyen (New York, NY & London) - First Asian Model to appear in Sports Illustrated Magazine's annual swimsuit issue. Selected by People Magazine as being among the "50 Most Beautiful People.

  • Taryn Rose (Beverly Hills, CA & New York, NY) - Formally trained as an orthopedic surgeon, Taryn Rose changed the footwear industry in 1998 by creating a line of luxury shoes that are as comfortable as they are beautiful. In 2003, Taryn Rose International reached almost $20 million in sales. The collection can be found at better shoe salons and specialty stores in the United States. International distribution will be launched in early 2004 at select retailers in Japan.

  • Monica Thao Tran (New York, NY) - Vice President of Men's Merchandising for Giorgio Armani, one of the world's most renowned fashion houses. She is one of the most high ranking Vietnamese American executive in the extremely competitive fashion world.

  • Chloe Dao opened Lot 8 in the summer of 2000. Today, Lot 8 is one of Houston's premiere boutiques and is regularly featured in Lucky magazine and local media.

  • Michelle Ngo was named Ultimate Designer for Houston in 2005 by The Houston Chronicle. Michelle launched her own label in 2003. Her designs have been featured in many articles in major publications such as WWD (Women Wears Daily), Houston Chronicle, Houston Business Journal, and many others.


Government


  • Thang Nguyen Barrett (San Jose, CA) - The first Vietnamese American Superior Court Judge in the United States.

  • Nguyen Minh Chau (Garrett Park, MD) - The first Vietnamese American woman to be elected to public office in the United States.

  • Viet Dinh (Washington, D.C.) - Appointed by President Bush to position of Assistant to US Attorney General, who later drafted the U.S. Patriot Act.

  • John Quoc Duong (Huntington Beach, CA) - A President George W. Bush's appointee, he served as the Executive Director of The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

  • Wendy Duong (Denver, CO) - The first Vietnamese American Judge in the United States.

  • Tony Quang Lam (Westminster, CA) - The first Vietnamese American to be elected to public office in the United States.

  • Jacqueline Nguyen (Los Angeles, CA) - The first Vietnamese American female Superior Court Judge in the United States.

  • Tu M. Pham (Memphis, TN) - The first U.S. Magistrate Judge (Western District of Tennessee) in the United States.

  • Kiem Phan (Washington, D.C.) - He was the first White House Fellow. Served as assistant to the United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security. He is currently the Executive Director for the Vietnam Educational Foundation.

  • Tue Quang Phan (San Francisco, CA) - The first U.S. Immigration Judge in the United States.

  • Hoang V. Tran (Seattle, WA) – In 1998 Hoang was appointed as the First Vietnamese-American and one of the youngest to the position of Community Service Officer for The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). He is the highest ranking Vietnamese-American DSHS official in the state overseeing a biennium budget of over $100 million.

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