1. Comes to the United States from Vietnam at age 12 with no father and a family of nine
2. Graduates as valedictorian of Alief Hastings High School in Houston at age 16
3. Graduates magna cum laude with a bachelor's in electrical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin at age 19
4. Goes to work for Texas Instruments as a memory design engineer
5. Accumulates 20 patents, all earning places in Texas Instruments' Hall of Fame
6. Becomes first Asian and first woman to be elected senior fellow at Texas Instruments
7. Leads the development of TI's Digital Signal Process products, including one recognized in Guinness World Records as the fastest single-core DSP in the world.
8. Earns a black belt in tae kwon do
9. Serves on the board of directors for the Mona Foundation, which supports educational and social economic development in 10 underdeveloped countries in Central and South America
10. Helps found Sunflower Mission, a nonprofit organization that provides education and scholarships to children in the poorest areas of Vietnam

Related Links:

Sunflower Mission
Mona Foundation
College of Engineering