Nguyen Ngoc Bich

Nguyen Ngoc Bich is a former Director of the Vietnamese Service at Radio Free Asia (RFA). Born in Hanoi, Vietnam, and educated in Saigon, the United States, Japan and Europe, Mr. Bich is fluent in seven languages. He came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship as an undergraduate student and received his B.A. from Princeton University (Political Science, 1958). He did graduate work in Asian studies at Columbia University (1959-65), Japanese literature at Kyoto University (1962-63), bilingual education and theoretical linguistics at Georgetown University (1980-85).

As an educator, Nguyen Ngoc Bich has taught at university level both in Vietnam and in the United States. Since coming to the U.S. in 1975, he has taught adult education, elementary school and high school in Arlington, Virginia, then at the university level at Trinity College, George Mason University (where he taught Vietnamese Literature and Vietnamese Culture and Civilization), and Georgetown University (where he was a teacher trainer in Bilingual and Multicultural Education). Together with his wife, Dr. Dao Thi Hoi, a linguist and ESL specialist, he was one of a group of educators who in 1979 founded NAVAE (National Association for Vietnamese American Education), the ancestor of NAFEA (National Association for the Education and Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese Americans). Mr. Bich was the third president of NAVAE, which he headed from 1984 to 1986. Widely recognized for his work in education, he was appointed by President Bush to the post of Deputy Director, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs (aka OBEMLA), at the U.S. Department of Education, where he served under Secretary Lamar Alexander from 1991 to 1993.

Mr. Bich is Chairman, Board of Directors, of Boat People S.O.S., Inc. a community service organization located in Falls Church, VA. He was also the founder of National News Service, which provides news of interest to readers of Vietnamese language newspapers worldwide, and one of the founding members of NCVA (National Congress of Vietnamese in America, formed in 1986). He is the author of a number of publications on Vietnam, including An Annotated Atlas of the Republic of Vietnam (1972), North Vietnam: Backtracking on Socialism (1971) and Literature Under Communism in Vietnam (under press). But he is best known as a translator and writer on the arts. The author of The Poetry of Vietnam (Asia Society of New York, 1969), A Thousand Years of Vietnamese Poetry (Knopf, 1975), he also edited War and Exile: A Vietnamese Anthology (Vietnamese PEN, 1989) and translated two collections of poetry coming from the pen of Nguyen Chi Thien, Hoa Dia Nguc / The Flowers of Hell and Hat Mau Tho / Blood Seeds Become Poetry (both published in 1996).

In the field of art and music, he co-authored (with his wife, Dr. Dao Thi Hoi) a bilingual collection of Christmas carols (1975) and translated a book on Vietnamese Architecture (1972). More recently, he has translated Truong Anh Thuy’s Truong Ca Loi Me Ru / A Mother’s Lullaby (1989); had a hand in doing a photography book by Tran Cao Linh, Vietnam, My Country Forever (Aide à l’Enfance du Vietnam, 1988), the catalogue of a traveling exhibition of Vietnamese and Vietnamese American paintings, An Ocean Apart (Smithsonian, 1996), the book Thai Tuan: Selected Paintings and Essays (VAALA, 1996); and has completed a comprehensive history on Seven Thousand Years of Vietnamese Ceramics (under press). His edition of the complete works of the poetess Ho Xuan Huong (ca. 1770-1835) was published in 2000 to wide acclaim. His most recent publication (2002) is Omar Khayyam – Rubaiyat: Tho va Doi, a study of the famous eleventh-century Persian poet-astronomer-philosopher and his world-renowned poetry collection made famous by Edward Fitzgerald’s English translation.

Prior to joining RFA (in January 1997), Mr. Bich has worked for 13 years as a Vietnamese-language Program Director for WHFS 103.4 FM and WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, DC. Because of his varied background and mastery of many aspects of Vietnamese culture, he is a much sought-after lecturer nationwide, on college campuses, at national and international conferences.

As a world-renowned translator from and into Vietnamese, Mr. Bich is also often asked to do simultaneous translation for international conferences and in public courts of law.
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Nguyen Quoc Hung

Hung Quoc Nguyen has been a community activist and has over 18 years of hands-on community experience. He works in the high-tech industry and currently serves as the President/Chief Executive Officer of the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and Chair of the Vietnamese American Youth Leadership Conference. His community involvements include leadership roles in the Conference of Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL), the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia (CAPAVA) and the Vietnamese American National Gala (VANG). Additionally, Mr. Nguyen serves on the the Virginia 2007 Community Citizen Planning Committee, Fairfax County (VA) Consumer Protection Commission and the President's Advisory Board of the NAACP - San José Chapter. Previously, he served as Director of Public Relations for the Vietnamese Nationalist Community of Austin, an organizational recipient of the Austin Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raiser Executives’ 1999 Philanthropic Organization of the Year Award and the Executive Committee of the California State Conference of the NAACP.

Mr. Nguyen's current goal with NCVA is to raise funds for NCVA's $1 Million Endowment Fund to create an office with full-time staff that will continually advocate for issues on behalf of Vietnamese Americans and to train young Vietnamese Americans to have greater leadership roles in their respective communities.

Mr. Nguyen has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San José Mercury News, Associated Press, Reuter, Fairfax Times and many other community newspapers, and has appeared on television and radio programs to inform and educate the public on issues affecting the communities of interest. He is committed to developing partnerships for and strengthening the infrastructure of the communities of interest with which he works. Mr. Nguyen has worked on community and legislative issues relating to at-risk youth, youth leadership development, economic self-sufficiency, redistricting, human rights, cultural identity, and voter education and empowerment. He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts and currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
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Pham Thu Dang

Dang Pham has been appointed by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown as Executive Director of the Immigrant Rights Commission/City Census 2000 Liaison on October 18, 1999. With this appointment, Dang was the first Vietnamese American appointed as the Department Head in the history of the City and County of San Francisco. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the City of San Jose Planning Commission.

He was the former Deputy Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff of the Office of Bilingual Education & Minority Languages Affairs, US Department of Education. Dang was appointed by President Clinton on February 28, 1994. In November 1996, he was on a one-year special assignment as the Deputy Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel in the White House for outreach to the Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders community.

Dang left Washington, D.C. in 1998 and became the Executive Director of Petrusky Educational Center in Garden Grove, Orange County. The center offers an after school program for the Vietnamese students in the Orange County area.

Dang Pham was appointed by Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts in 1986 as the Educational Program Director of the Massachusetts Office for Refugees & Immigrants.  He was the first Asian American appointed as the Commissioner of the Fair Housing Commission of the City of Boston.  He was a secondary math teacher and discipline coordinator in Boston Public Schools for 7 years.  He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000.

Dang received a number of national awards to recognize his strong commitment and advocate for the language minority community such as:

• National Service Award from National Association for Education of Asian & Pacific Americans (NAAPEA)

• Outstanding Community Service Award from National Association for the Education & Advancement of Cambodian, Laotian & Vietnamese Americans (NAFEA)

• Ambassador in Education Award from the Vietnamese American Professional & Engineer Society (VASPES)

• Ten Young Leaders Award from Boston Jaycees

• Nominee of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s 2001 Public Managerial Excellence Award

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Pham Van Nam

Nam Van Pham has been a community activist for more than 20 years. Currently, he chairs the Massachusetts Governor Asian American Commission and the American Cancer Society’s Asian American Advisory Board. He has traveled to many states and countries to inform the American and international public about human right abuses in Vietnam by Hanoi communist government. Recently, he organized the Massachusetts Commission for Human Rights in Vietnam, a coalition of Vietnamese American organizations and leading activists to advocate for respect of religious freedom and other individual rights for Vietnam. He is also establishing the Next Vietnam Foundation, whose goal is to advocate for an open Vietnamese society, which includes free elections and government accountability.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses, VietAid, and Veteran Benefits Clearing House. Previously, Governor Weld appointed him to chair the Governor’s Advisory Council on Refugees and Immigrants.

After having served the Commonwealth as Commissioner of the Office for Refugees and Immigrants for four years and Deputy Director of International Trade for one year, he returned to the private sector. He has been a Vice President of Metropolitan Banking for Citizens Bank since August 2000.

In 1990, the Boston Jaycees honored him as one of the 10 Outstanding Young Leaders. He holds a Master Degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and BS from University of Minnesota. He is a fellow of The Royal Institute for International Affairs, British-American Project. Nam also taught at Tuft University on Vietnam War as well as US immigration policy.
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Jackie Bong-Wright

Jackie Bong-Wright received her Bachelor of Arts, University of Bordeaux, France and Saigon University, Vietnam in 1964.  In 1984, she received a M.Sc. in Foreign Service, Georgetown University, International Relations.

Jackie Bong-Wright has been involved in numerous activities.

In 1981, she was named one of ten outstanding Asian-Americans in the U.S. for 1981 by U.S.-Asia Institute, Washington, D.C.  In 1995, she was awarded the Key to the City of Kingston, Jamaica by the Mayor for her social work.  Her book Autumn Cloud: From Vietnamese War Widow to American Activist was published in 2001.

2002 –  Outreach Worker, Project Resilience, Department of Human Services, Arlington County, counseling Vietnamese affected by 9/11.

2000 –  Certified Medical Interpreter, Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center (NOVA-AHEC).

2000 - Recruiter and Trainer of enumerators, U.S. Census Bureau.

1999 – President & CEO, Vietnamese-American Voters Association (VAVA).  Educates Vietnamese-Americans on how to access services that contribute to citizens’ civic, social, health, and economic growth.   

1998 – Consultant on educational and health-related issues to public and private organizations. Conducts surveys and needs’ assessments. Organizes workshops and conferences, and gives lectures on cross-cultural and belief systems to Department of Health and to public schools.

Radio talk show host on Vietnamese radio. Interview Vietnamese on topics including women, youth, health, politics, and the economy.

Reporter, Asian Fortune and various Vietnamese newspapers, reporting on community activities.

1985 – 1997    Accompanied diplomat husband to Thailand, Mexico, Trinidad, Jamaica and Brazil, and did immigration work in U.S. Embassies.

From 1964-1972, she taught French at the Alliance Francaise, Saigon, Vietnam.  From 1972-1975, she served as the Director of Cultural Activities for the Vietnamese-American Association in Saigon, Vietnam.  From 1979-1982, she served as the Executive Director of the Indochinese Refugees Social Services (IRSS) which provided resettlement and employment services to refugee boat people.
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