Janette N. Luu (born March 18, 1976) is a

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

broadcaster. Until October 2009, she hosted '' CANOE Live'', a local TV program on Sun TV in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada, as Toronto's first-ever Vietnamese TV news anchor.

Personal life

Luu was born in Big Spring, Texas. Luu's parents came to the United States in 1975, with her birth coming just a year afterward. During her childhood, Luu attended Haley Elementary and Blackhawk Middle School. Luu later attended

Snider High School R. Nelson Snider High School is a secondary school in the Fort Wayne Community Schools system, serving the north central and northeast neighborhoods of Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. A small portion of New Haven is zoned to Snider. Athle ...

, where she won first place for a speech written for 'Project XL', an Indiana competition sponsored by

Farm Bureau The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), also known as Farm Bureau Insurance and Farm Bureau Inc. but more commonly just the Farm Bureau (FB), is a United States-based insurance company and lobbying group that represents the American agri ...

and the

Indiana High School Athletic Association The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public and private high schools in the U.S. state of Indiana. It monitors a system that divides athletically-competing high schools in Indiana ...

. Having co-anchored the school's weekly television show known as ''Panther's Pause'', Luu also graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

from Snider High School, having been labeled as "Most Likely to be the First Woman President" in the school yearbook. Luu's parents had many expectations for her that involved a degree in medicine. She had wanted to be a doctor since she was young, which was why she first enrolled in and graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, pursuing a

pre-med Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

double major A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...

and earning

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degrees in both

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. She graduated in 1998, but decided afterward that she "didn't want a medical career".

Career

For her first job, she worked at the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate, 21-Alive

WPTA WPTA (channel 21) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC, NBC, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CW+ affiliate WISE-TV (channel 33). Both stations share studios on Butler Road ...

TV, in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, United States, as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

in charge of minor editing and running the

teleprompter A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually be ...

. Rising to the position of full television reporter after a year and a half, Luu was known to be the "second Vietnamese TV reporter in her city". In 2004 Luu helped organize 'Pop Filter' as an art installation and event. Its success led to her creating 'City Prototype' with Matt Stuart, as an event to highlight the importance of ideas and creativity in relation to Fort Wayne's economic growth. This event prompted proactive involvement from school students and recent graduates in sharing their own visions for the future of the city. Also in 2004, she was a winner of the 2004 Future 40 Award presented by the Fort Wayne Business Journal, to individuals selected for their achievements in professional accomplishment. In 2005 Luu and Matt Stuart won a $25,000 award in

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

's "Ideas Happen" contest for her concept of bringing different religious persuasions together. Titled "Project Inspire" her idea seeks to "provide understanding and to show connections between all religions". Only 12 individuals were chosen for awards out of 19,000 entries. Her work within the community was recognized when she became the cover story for the premiere issue of ''Fort Wayne Woman''. She announced in 2005 that she would be moving to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in order to host '' CANOE Live'' on Sun TV, "Channel 15's six-o'clock current affairs show", which began airing in April 2006. She completed her move to Toronto in early April, 2006, just before the start of CANOE Live. As an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

in Toronto, she was the "first-ever Vietnamese TV news anchor". Luu departed from hosting CANOE Live in October 2009.

Career highlights

* reporter, WPTA-TV 21 (

) 2000-2006 (Fort Wayne, Indiana) * producer/voice talent, Fort Wayne Community Schools Staff Spotlight 2001-2005 (Fort Wayne, Indiana) * anchor, WPTA-TV 21 Alive News anchor (

) 2003-2006 (Fort Wayne, Indiana) * creative 100 member, Memphis Manifesto Summit 2003 (

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) * executive director, City Prototype 2004 (Fort Wayne, Indiana) * founder of multimedia art event Pop Filter 2004 (Fort Wayne, Indiana) * anchor, ''CANOE Live'' on Sun TV, 2006-2009 (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luu, Janette Canadian television news anchors Television anchors from Fort Wayne, Indiana Living people 1976 births American women journalists American writers of Vietnamese descent American women television journalists People from Big Spring, Texas University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Journalists from Texas American expatriates in Canada