Thuy Thi Nguyen, J.D.
Thuy Thi Nguyen served as General Counsel to the Peralta Community College District (a four-college district) for more than eleven years since 2003 – with notable achievements in the areas of land acquisition, contracts negotiation, and bond financing. Nguyen was also the legislative liaison where she initiated the idea for AB 1050 that later became AB 288, the seminal dual enrollment legislation. While serving as chief legal counsel, Nguyen also served as Acting Vice Chancellor for HR for one year and District-wide Strategic Planning Manager for two years. Nguyen was an adjunct instructor teaching education law for several years at CSU, East Bay.
From January to June 2015, Nguyen took leave from Peralta CCD to serve as Interim President/Chief Executive Officer of the Community College League of California. As Interim President, Nguyen redesigned the statewide training program on governance (Collegiality in Action) with the State Academic Senate President and provided training and technical assistance to community colleges on governance and Assembly Bill 1725.
Nguyen then served as Interim General Counsel for the State Chancellor’s Office where she initiated a change in the EEO funding allocation to the Multiple-Method model in order to promote diversity. In 2016, Nguyen was appointed President of Foothill College – becoming the first Vietnamese American college president in the country. During her five-year tenure as President, she was recognized internationally and nationally for her handling of the pandemic and progress in equity, including being one of a few college/university presidents interviewed by The Chronicle of Higher Education on how to not backslide on equity during the pandemic.
Nguyen has received numerous honors and awards. In 2007, she was named one of eighteen “Best Lawyers Under 40” in the country by the National Asian American Bar Association. In 2016, for her leadership in creating an unprecedented community college pathway to law school initiative, Nguyen received the Diversity Award from the State Bar of California – a statewide award given to an individual each year who has helped diversify the profession.
In 2017, she was one of thirty-eight individuals honored as part of Carnegie Corporation’s “Great Immigrants” tribute in the New York Times. The tribute recognizes naturalized citizens, including refugees such as Nguyen, who have helped advance society, culture, and the economy.
Nguyen has been featured in various news outlets and is a frequent public speaker including testifying as an expert on faculty diversity for the State Legislature. She has also served on many boards including for the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington D.C. She is currently Board Chair of Cal LAW Pathways and Board member of Cal Medicine Coalition – both organizations she co-founded to diversify the legal and medical professions, respectively.
Nguyen is currently a Partner at the law firm of Garcia Hernández Sawhney, providing legal advice to community colleges, serving as General Counsel for the African American California Community College Trustees and Administrators Caucus (the “Black Caucus”), and serving as Commission Counsel for the Oakland Police Commission.
Nguyen earned her B.A. in Philosophy from Yale University and J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she was a member of the inaugural class of the Public Interest Law and Policy Program. Nguyen is a Paul and Daisy Soros for New Americans Fellow.