Hung Vu

Professor Hung Vu lists many passions involved in teaching biology. One rings with gentle urgency. He aims to help his Southeast Campus students "reach their full potential" to make "a better society" -- far from the hellish life he once encountered.

Twenty-six years ago at age 16, Vu escaped South Vietnam when North Vietnamese Communist forces took over. With only the clothes he wore and the company of four companions, he set out for Thailand. Food poisoning killed two of the group before the survivors reached the Thai border. There they were captured by the murderous Khmer Rouge army and forced into slavery. 

Two years later, the International Red Cross rescued them in a trade for food and medical supplies. "During this time," Vu recalls, "if anyone asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?,' I would have answered: 'Stay alive the next day.'" 

Vu eventually made it to a refugee center in the Philippines, then to his grandparents' home in Houston. He later enrolled at the University of North Texas in Denton where he discovered biology, earning degrees in that field, including a Ph.D. in biology/neuroscience. In 1998, he joined TCC's faculty part time, moving to a full-time teaching position in the fall of 2002. 

 "Most of my students are future nurses - health-care providers whose actions will affect someone's life," he notes. "Thus, critical thinking and clinical applications are greatly emphasized in my classroom." 

All see him in the audience when they graduate. "And often," he says, "students' comments may bring tears to your eyes: 'I'm an R.N., Dr. Vu. Thanks for your tough love.' 'Thanks for everything, Dr. Vu.' There is no greater satisfaction than that." 

- By David House