Khoa Nguyen (MSW ’87) arrived in the United States by boat with other Vietnam War refugees and lived for a time at Camp Pendleton, California. Once in Colorado, he followed the career path of his mother, formerly a social worker in Saigon whom he had often visited at work. After completing postgraduate work at the Family Therapy Training Center, Nguyen became a psychotherapist, did pro bono child custody evaluations, then embarked on a 23-year career with the Denver Public Schools as a youth activity specialist, school social worker, educational specialist/broker of student services, assistant principal and, since 1995, elementary school principal. A member of numerous boards and Denver’s Asian-Pacific American Commission, he received the Lift Every Voice Community Service Award in 2001 and was named one of Denver’s 150 “Unsung Heroes” in 2008.
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GSSW Alumni Stories 