Moderator : Thái Thị Ngọc Dư, Former Founder and Dean of the Faculty of Women's Studies at HCM City Open University
Nguyen was born and grew up during the final years of the Vietnam War. Her house was burned down during the war and her family lost everything. Her mother was struggled to raise 5 kids alone. Nguyen and her siblings grew up in small villages in Vietnam without electricity for 16 years and they lacked of basic needs such as foods, clothes, drinking water, etc. She was raised to become a housewife and a mother. She immigrated to the United States (US) at the age of 21 years old with a few words of English and no money. She faced discrimination in the village for being poor and in the United States for being an immigrant. The more challenges she faced, the harder she tried. She used every setback and hurdle as a motivation to move forward. Within 10 years arriving to the US, Nguyen got a PhD from UCLA in Physical Chemistry. In this presentation, she will discuss her journey from a village girl to the US National Academy of Engineering member, how her role has changed from a housewife to the world top scientist, and how she uses her voice and influence to advocate for women in science and engineering.
Thuc Quyen Nguyen is the director of the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids and professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Recognition for her research includes Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award, Alfred Sloan Research Fellow, NSF American Competitiveness and Innovation Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Award, Royal Society of Chemistry Fellow, Hall of Fame - Advanced Materials, Beaufort Visiting Scholar, St John's College, Cambridge University, 2015-2019 World's Most Influential Scientific Minds; Top 1 % Highly Cited Researchers in Materials Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, Wilhelm Exner Medal, and Elected Member of the National Academy of Engineering.
