Mr. Bob Nguyen was born in Da Nang, Vietnam in 1961. Born to a military family—his father was a Lieutenant Colonel—his family lived a comfortable life in Vietnam. However, a day before the Fall of Saigon on April 29, 1975, his family had to flee the country in fear of being captured by Communist forces. His family found their way to America after being picked up by American troops, and eventually, after being discovered and sponsored by a group from Broadmoor Baptist Church, wound up in Jackson, Mississippi. With much help from the church, Nguyen adjusted to life in America. His military father found work as a maintenance man for Kodak, but eventually, with hard work, determination, and ingenuity made his way up into the ranks of management. Nguyen attended and graduated from the University of Houston after transferring from the University of Southern Mississippi. He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering Technology. After working for his father's photography lab for one year, he got a job at HP and worked there for several years until he got a job at Rice University as a Facilities Engineering Project Manager. He has been married to his wife for 25 years and has three sons. Currently, along with working at Rice, he is helping to start up an ESL program for immigrant families in the Alief area.
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