May 31st, 2016
Biography
I was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. After finishing her Bachelor of Science in Informatics and Applied Mathematics at Hanoi University of Technology, I worked for 3C Inc. as an Application Developer and then joined United Nations Development Programme (Hanoi’s office) as a local area network manager. I went to the United States in 1996 to start a quest for finding the intersection of what I enjoys doing and Computer Science. I received her Master degree in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) in 1999. I lived in Milwaukee for three years before joining UCONN and fell in love with Midwest ever since.
I defended my Ph.D dissertation in Computer Science in May of 2005 at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Just in case you are not familiar with college sport, UCONN is well-known by two strong men and women basketball programs. I decided to join the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as a tenure track assistant professor starting Fall 2005. I continues to pursue my dream of making the computers help the users find the right information at the right time using the right tools, and follows footsteps with many great professors (who I has privileges to work with) to care and help many students to success.
In my leisure time, I loves watching movies (not to mentioned that I implemented a movie recommender system called DIVA for my Master thesis). I became a big fan of college women basketball ever since joining UCONN. My kids’ hobby makes me become an avid figure skating and hockey fan (i.e I could tell what it takes to improve a skater’s Grace of Execution (GOE) or how to cheer on a “Dangle” move). I used to speak French fluently. Unfortunately, I have not got many chances to practice it. Additionally, I loves traveling. Thailand, India, the Neitherlands, Scotland, Australia, Italy, and Canada are some places that I has visited.
I am married and am a proud mother of three active kids: a figure skater Emily (14), two hockey and soccer players: Ben (13) and Steve(8).