Andrew
Pouliot/LA Voz
Foothill College will appoint the first Vietnamese president of a California community college. Thuy Thi Nguyen, 40, will be the first Vietnamese president of a California community college this summer after a recommendation was posed to the Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees.
Foothill College’s new president, Thuy Thi Nguyen. (Photo courtesy Foothill College)
Becky
Bartindale, coordinator of communications and public affairs of the
FHDA Community College District, explained the process of selection
in an email.
“A
19-member hiring group made up of faculty, classified staff, students
and administrators reviewed submissions from all applicants who met
the minimum qualifications and selected which candidates to
interview,” she wrote. “Three finalists were selected. The
chancellor makes the recommendation to the board and board action is
required to make the appointment.”
According
to the email, the decision will be finalized through a vote on Monday
night. She also noted that there has never been an instance where the
board did not accept the chancellor’s recommendation.
Nguyen
came to the United States from a refugee camp in Japan after her
family fled Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. She lived in
Wichita, Kansas and New Orleans, Louisiana before settling in
Oakland, California at the age of 14.
Nguyen
earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Yale University and
then attended UCLA School of Law. She said she was inspired to go to
law school because she wanted to play a part in correcting social
injustice, having seen the contrast between the “haves” and
“have nots” in society.
While
still in law school she was selected to receive a Paul and Daisy
Soros for New Americans Fellowship, which provides opportunities for
new immigrants to achieve leadership positions in their chosen field
and achieve the “American dream.” Nguyen was part of the
inaugural class in the law school’s public interest law and policy
program and earned a juris doctor degree.
Nguyen
has taught education law at CSU East Bay for several years and has
also written a book, “25 Vietnamese Americans in 25 Years,” which
showcase prominent Vietnamese immigrants who have served their
communities.
She
will be replacing interim president Kimberlee Messina as president of
Foothill College on July 1, 2016.
To read more, click here:
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/04/21/foothill-college-names-new-president
