Dinh-Hoa Nguyen '50 was awarded the Union College Eliphalet
Nott medal, posthumously, at a recent alumni event in San Francisco.
Dr. Nguyen, a native of Vietnam,
received a bachelor of arts degree in English and went on to earn a master's
degree and doctorate from New York University. He became one of the most
influential figures in America's Vietnamese community. He taught English, Vietnamese, linguistics,
and literature for more than forty years and directed the first U.S. center for
Vietnamese studies at Southern Illinois University. His autobiography, From the City Inside the Red River: A Cultural Memoir of Mid-Century Vietnam,
was published last year. He was the
author of several popular bilingual dictionaries and language textbooks as well
as numerous articles and essays in international journals and encyclopedias.
President Roger H. Hull established the Eliphalet Nott Medal in 1995 in recognition of the College's bicentennial. The Nott medal recognizes the perseverance of alumni who have attained great distinction in their fields. The medal is named for
Eliphalet Nott, president of Union from 1804 to 1866.