UTD professor gives back to

VAISHNAVI JOSYULA Mercury Staff

From attempting to escape communism 11 times to becoming the president of the Vietnamese American Community in the U.S., adjunct professor Trong Phan has endured hardship; yet, he has prevailed in giving back to the Vietnamese community.

Phan, who teaches Vietnamese at UTD, was born in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, where North Vietnamese communists confiscated his family’s property and violated their human rights. Phan credited his mother for instilling beliefs of freedom, which encouraged him to learn English and attempt to escape the country.

“During that journey of several attempts to escape Vietnam, I was caught during the escapement twice, and I was in prison twice,