Hung Pham
Encyclopedia
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He formerly served as a member of Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early Life
Born and growing up in Saigon, the capital of South VietnamSouth Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
, Hung Pham was one of the boat people leaving the country after Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Coming to Canada in 1980 at the age of 16 without English, teenager Hung Pham worked as a part-time janitor to make his living while going to high-school in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
.
Education
Hung Pham completed his high-school education in 1982 and subsequently took the computer science university transfer program at Mount Royal CollegeMount Royal College
Mount Royal University is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1910 as a primary and secondary school, Mount Royal became a post-secondary institution in 1931 as Mount Royal College offering transfer courses to the University of Alberta and later to the University of Calgary...
, where he received many awards and scholarships for outstanding academic achievements. Pham then transferred to University of Calgary
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
in 1984 and graduated from the university in 1986 with two Bachelor Degrees with Distinction: Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Pure Mathematics
Pure mathematics
Broadly speaking, pure mathematics is mathematics which studies entirely abstract concepts. From the eighteenth century onwards, this was a recognized category of mathematical activity, sometimes characterized as speculative mathematics, and at variance with the trend towards meeting the needs of...
. He went on to take Master program at University of Calgary, specializing in Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
.
Technology Profession
Starting as a prominent Information Analyst with Canalta Data Services in 1988, Hung Pham joined The City of Calgary in 1989 as a Database Technical Analyst. He was promoted by The City of Calgary to be Senior Programmer Analyst in 1991.Community Activities
As an active member of many non-profit organizations, Hung Pham helped Calgary Police Service with her multicultural and crime prevention programs. He was elected President of Calgary Vietnamese Canadian Association in 1990. At that position, Pham promoted programs to help low income workers. With his well-known speech delivered to the community on 1991 TếtTet
Tet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on...
celebration event, Pham publicly declared his programs to help cleaners in Calgary.
Political Career
Elected to Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada at the age of 29, Hung Pham was the youngest Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Alberta Legislature at the time. He is also the very first Vietnamese ever elected to a state legislature outside of Vietnam in history.Re-elected four times later, Hung Pham has held many high-rank positions in Alberta Government. In 2006, he was promoted by Premier Ed Stelmach to be a member of Alberta Treasury Board, the legislative body responsible for all expenditures and budgets of Alberta (Premier Ed Stelmach is also a member of the board).
In January, 2008, Hung Pham announced that he would not seek re-election.
External links
- http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_bio&rnumber=17 Legislative Assembly of Alberta Elected Members Biography