office; Westminster, California city council (Republican) Madison Nguyen – San Jose City Council member and Vice Mayor of City of San Jose, California (Democratic) John Tran – first Vietnamese-American to be Mayor of any city; Mayor of Rosemead, California (Democratic) Other Lan Cao – law professor, novelist Bùi Diễm – one of the last Vietnamese ambassadors to the United States during the final phase of the Vietnam War Kok Ksor – president of the Montagnard Foundation, Inc. Amanda Nguyen – President and Founder of Rise (non-governmental organization), a non-profit that works to implement a sexual assault survivors' bill of rights. Huu Chanh Nguyen – founder and former Prime Minister of the Government of Free Vietnam Science and education Kathy Pham – computer scientist and product leader; founding product and engineering member at the United States Digital Service at the White House, Nguoi Viet 40 under 40. Han T. Dinh – Director of Vehicle Engineering, United States Postal Service; winner of 2006 White House "Closing of Circle Award" Bui Tuong Phong – computer graphics pioneer; inventor of Phong reflection model and Phong shading interpolation method Duy-Loan Le – prominent Texas Instruments engineer Trang Thach Hickman – public health professional and J. William Fulbright Scholar Eugene H. Trinh – NASA astronaut, first Vietnamese-American to travel into outer space Hồ Thành Việt – founder of VNI Software Co., California Jane Luu – astronomer, co-discoverer of Kuiper Belt and many asteroids Nguyễn Xuân Vinh – professor of aerospace engineering, University of Michigan; first Vietnamese to receive the [[Dirk Brouwer Award (A Anh Duong Nguyet – responsible for the creation of the thermobaric weapon Trịnh Xuân Thuận – author of The Birth of the Universe; astrophysicist; professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia Tuan Vo-Dinh – inventor, professor and Director of the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics of Duke University; ranked No. 43 on a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses Xuong Nguyen-Huu – biology professor, University of California; pioneer in AIDS research; invented the x-ray multiwire area detector Đàm Thanh Sơn – theoretical physicist, University Professor at University of Chicago, member of National Academy of Sciences Van H. Vu – Professor of Mathematics at Yale University Ngô Bảo Châu – Professor of Mathematics at University of Chicago; Fields Medal winner Trần Duy Trác - Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University SonBinh Nguyen – Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern