(VNF) - Thanks to her rentless efforts, Le Duy Loan became the first woman and Asian elected to the rank of Texas Instruments Senior Fellow, the highest elected technical title.

Le Duy Loan became the first woman and Asian elected to the rank of Texas Instruments Senior Fellow, the highest elected technical title.

Le Duy Loan holds a total of 24 patents, including four pioneering patents contributing specifically to the development of modern computers. At the same time, she is an excellent speaker, annually speaking at numnerous national events to help create an environment that stimulates and releases leadership potential in women and Asian Americans.

Sunflower Mission, founded in 2002 by Mrs. Le and her husband, is a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of the people in Vietnam, mainly through educational assistance programs.

The fund has built about 100 classrooms in several southern provinces such as Kien Giang, An Giang, Dong Thap, Ben Tre and Phu Yen.

A child that could not speak even one word English

Born in Nha Trang, South Vietnam in 1962 to a labor-class family, Duy-Loan Le fled to the U.S in 1975, eventually settling in Houston.

Although Loan knew no English when she arrived, she mastered the language fast enough to graduate from Alief Hastings High School at 16 as Valedictorian of her class of 335 students.

In 1982, at the age of 19, Duy-Loan Le received her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas and subsequently obtained her MBA in May 1989 from the University of Houston while working full-time. She began her career at Texas Instruments as a memory design engineer.

Mrs. Le at the graduation ceremony of the University of Texas at Austin in 1982.

Duy-Loan's technical contributions at Texas Instruments were recognized when she was elected a Member of Technical Staff in 1990, Senior Member of Technical Staff in 1993, the first woman at TI to be elected Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 1997, and the first woman elected TI-Fellow in 1999.

Currently she manages development projects for wireless communications as TI program manager for Laplace (a Digital signal processor (DSP) chip for 3G base stations) and also serves as manager of DSP Advanced Ramp. In 2002, Duy-Loan became the first Asian-American, and the first woman, to be elected TI Senior Fellow in Texas Instruments' 75-year history. She joins four men who hold this title at TI worldwide. Today she remains the only woman with this title.

Always remember about homeland

At the age of 20, Duy-Loan Le get married with Dao Tuan. In August 30, 1993, the Vietnam couple welcomed their first son, Dao Le Quy Dan. Dan’s younger brother, Dao Le Quy Don, was born on February 22, 1997.

They chose the names that can be spelled and pronounced in almost the same way in both Vietnamese and English to remind their children that even they were born in the US, they still have Vietnamese roots.

Ms. Loan often teaches children how to combine the basic values of Vietnamese culture with all the good things of American culture. Although this is not a simple task, she tries to make that happen by spending a lot of time with her chidlren, taking care of them and teaching them.

"The two children are good, intelligent and have a loving heart." I always wanted my child to understand that when born with better conditions, one must know how to contribute to the old world.’’

Charity work

In 1999, Loan's friend, Dr. Javid asked her to set up a nonprofit organization (NPO) to support girls in South Africa. Although she enjoyed the idea, she was unable to attend because her father was seriously ill.

It was not until he died in 2000 that she started building the Mona Foundation with Javid. Objects of the Mona Foundation are girls in underdeveloped countries.

She annually speaks at numnerous national events to help create an environment that stimulates and releases leadership potential in women and Asian Americans.

Over the past 17 years, the organization has provided educational opportunities to more than 150,000 children in 18 different countries.

"The experience of working in a variety of cultures shows that men are more likely to spend money on gambling or drinking alcohol, and women are more likely to use it to care for and help their family.

Therefore, if you want to change a whole generation, it is better to invest in girls more. "

‘’I have always had a strong belief in education which is the key to help children born in difficult circumstance. However, education must include learning the knowledge and personality. Nothing is as scary as a smart, talented person who lacks a heart.’’, she said.

In 2002, Mrs. Le and her husband set up Sunflower Mission with the goal of raising fund USD 1 million in 10 years, building 100 primary schools, granting 10,000 Scholarships for children in the poorest regions of Vietnam and keep operating costs below 3%.

Now, over 13 years, SM has inaugurated 144 classes and awarded more than 15,000 scholarships, of which 388 have graduated from university. The operating cost of the organization was 0.83% in the past 13 years./.

Ngoc Tran