Interview with Ms. Dau Thuy Ha, Boise State University Alumni

When did you go to Boise State, what year?

That’s a long time ago, actually. Almost 30 years ago. I joined Boise State in 1997 and I graduated with my MBA from the Boise State College of Business and Economics in 1999. So right before Y2K.

Why and how did you choose Boise State?

I was awarded a Swedish Government scholarship for Vietnamese students and professionals like me to get an American MBA. Boise State was selected by the Swedish Government to deliver that MBA program, and it was delivered in three cohorts. I was the last cohort. 

The first cohort started in 1994. The first cohort of Boise State MBA were actually the first American-educated MBAs, Master of Business Administrations, in Vietnam after the war. I was in cohort three, so I’m not among the country’s first MBAs but we were still quite a rare breed. Overall there were more than 80 MBAs from Boise State University in Vietnam like me, and we are very lucky that we’re now in good positions, and we keep very close contact with each other and with our professors.

Everybody knows New York or Los Angeles. Boise is out there, it’s not a very recognised destination. What are some things that are unique to Boise, things you liked about the campus, or lifestyle, or how the university treated you?

I am speaking from my personal experience, as well as the experience of subsequent Vietnamese students who went to Boise State to study and graduate from there. Two things stand out for us. 

One unique thing is that Boise State is truly the center for business education, and is also the nucleus of the business community in Idaho. Being a business administration student in Boise State gives us very unique access to internships, which is so very important. And I know that it is not easy to claim and to validate such a fact with student data in the case of many other universities that offer business education. 

In my case, I interned for more than one month with Hewlett Packard, HP, in Boise. People were interning - and I know that some students nowadays are interning - with world-class companies around Boise, like Micron, Simplot, Albertsons, et cetera. You have big companies and companies who accept internships in other cities as well. But in Boise there is this balance between the university being very respected, highly respected, and very closely knitted with the business community.

That is the first thing I think is quite unique, in the sense that being with Boise State you feel very confident that you will get a quality internship around the region.

Secondly, Boise State has a 30-year relationship with Vietnam and Boise State professors like Nancy Napier regularly went to Vietnam to teach. And now her students are rectors and president of top universities in Vietnam. Some are very well-recognized entrepreneurs and business people in Vietnam. 

So for the future Vietnamese students who are considering to go to Boise State to study, when they go back they are in good hands. They have a strong and high-profile network of Boise State alumni who run organizations, universities, businesses, who most likely would gladly take them into employment or internship or mentoring.

I think Boise State still has one of the biggest number of alumni, especially in business administration, in the whole of Vietnam. Very highly concentrated. There are 4,000 universities in the US; some might have hundreds of Vietnamese alumni, but they are all in different disciplines, different businesses. In Vietnam, Boise State has strong business administration alumni; this is helpful to future classes. We have alumni scholarships for Vietnamese students to go to the Business School at Boise State. Future Vietnamese students should take advantage of all of those.

I am a lifetime supporter of Boise State. It delights me so much to see more Vietnamese students studying in Boise State, because it has the right balance. Very reasonable tuition fee for quality education. Great location, easy access to the West coast. I think it is a wise choice for many parents to have their kids studying at Boise State.

Inspired? Find out more about studying business at Boise State University here.