Huong Nguyen, PhD, MSW, MA is a clinical associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and instructor at the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Dr. Nguyen was social work faculty at the University of South Carolina, where she was also the Global Carolina Regional Director for Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Born and raised in Vietnam, Dr. Nguyen had training in economics and communication before receiving her PhD in social work from the University of Chicago (2010). As the first person in post-war Vietnam with a doctoral degree in social work, Dr. Nguyen is an authoritative source in the emerging field of social work in Vietnam. Her research focuses on understanding the root causes and treatment of mental suffering. Since 2010, she has been conducting research at Buddhist temples in Asia, training with different Buddhist masters. Dr. Nguyen is currently a principal investigator in a NIH-funded study that tests a stress-reduction intervention for Vietnamese caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients. In addition to being a scholar, Dr. Nguyen is an award-winning best-selling author of nine fictional and non-fictional books. She uses her creative works to raise public awareness about social problems and social justice. She has been awarded the Motivating Woman Award, Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Vietnamese Social Work by the Vietnamese Government, and other recognitions from the United States and Vietnam.