May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Join media expert Chau Nguyen and Professor Son Mai, Ph.D. of Midland College as they tell stories of the Vietnamese American migration experience in Texas.
Enjoy appetizers from Jenni’s Noodle House, wine and music in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Museum Gallery.
We would like to thank Houston Area Women’s Center, UH-Downtown’s History Department, Midland College, and Vietnamese Community of Houston & Vicinities (VietHouston) for their support in sharing Houston’s heritages.
Speaker’s Bio: Chau Nguyen is the Chief Public Strategies Officer for the Houston Area Women’s Center. She is tasked with managing and expanding key partnerships, while positioning HAWC as thought leaders in order to drive broad awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault, with a goal of reducing interpersonal violence and changing cultural norms about how survivors are understood. Prior to her leadership in the non-profit space, Chau spent 15 years as a television news journalist and last served as an anchor and reporter with KHOU TV. She is the first Vietnamese American journalist to receive an Emmy Award for her documentary series covering a medical mission in Vietnam, and the Houston Press has named her “Reporter of the Year”. Chau came to America, and to Houston, when she was two years old, escaping from Vietnam, at the end of the Vietnam War, with her parents and three siblings. As a refugee immigrant whose family settled in Houston and still calls Houston home, she is passionate about staying connected and serving her community.
Speaker’s Bio: Dr. Son Mai was born and raised in Texas. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Texas at Arlington, an M.A. in History from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he wrote his thesis on Vietnamese Immigration to Texas, an MBA from McNeese State University, and a Ph.D. at Texas Tech University, where he focused his research on Vietnamese fishing communities along the Texas Gulf Coast. Dr. Mai is currently an Associate Professor of Organizational Management at Midland College and has over 11 years of experience in teaching History.