George Mason’s board of visitor’s has voted to change the name of its School of Computing to the Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong School of Computing, the school announced. The name change is the result of a $20 million donation by the Kimmy Duong Foundation.
Kimmy Duong and her husband, Long Nguyen, also donated $5 million to the university in 2009. That gift established the Nguyen Engineering Building. The state-of-the-art facility houses cutting-edge research and education spaces for engineering, computing, and IT students.
GMU held an April 25 ceremony at the school’s Fairfax campus to honor the recent $20 million donation. “We are so grateful to Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong for their continued support of the College of Engineering and Computing, now culminating in this generous gift,” GMU Dean Ken Ball said. “George Mason is honored to be part of their legacy in Northern Virginia.”
The name change will become official pending approval from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia this summer.
A Large Impact
According to George Mason, the $20 million donation will have an impact of $36 million, because a portion will be eligible for matching funds from Virginia’s Tech Talent Investment Program. This initiative aims to increase the number of graduates with computing degrees. It provides financial incentives to colleges and universities that enroll and graduate more students with these skills.
The funds will establish three endowments. Two will be within the College of Engineering and Computing to provide scholarships and student success initiatives. The third will provide scholarships through the Long Nguyen and Kimmy Dong Scholarship Endowment with a preference for students majoring in nursing, education, or journalism.
Immigrant Success Story
Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong were both born in Vietnam and now live in McLean. Duong earned a bachelor of science in economics and law from the University of Saigon in 1966. She worked for IBM from 1968 until 1975, when she was forced to flee Vietnam. She arrived in the United States with only $30.
Duong eventually moved to Northern Virginia and continued working for IBM. In 1994, she joined Pragmatics, where she served as vice chairwoman and CFO. In 2015, she established the Kimmy Duong Foundation, which supports health, education, and welfare initiatives both in the U.S. and Vietnam.
Duong spoke at the April 25 event. “Education is the cornerstone of life,” she said, noting that many in her generation worked multiple jobs to send their children to college. “Now, we are giving back.”
Feature image of Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong courtesy of Ron Aira/George Mason University
