Vicky Nguyen (born ) is a

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese-born American

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

working with

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Nguyen joined NBC News in April 2019 as the Investigative and Consumer correspondent. Her reporting has been seen on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'', ''3rd Hour Today'', '' Nightly News with Lester Holt'', '' NBC News Now'' and

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

. Prior to moving to New York, Nguyen worked for KNTV, the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

owned-and-operated station in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. There, she served as a senior investigative reporter for the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit and anchor of the Sunday evening news on NBC Bay Area. Before joining NBC Bay Area, Nguyen worked at various television stations in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Early life and education

Nguyen was born in

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. At a very young age, she and her parents fled Vietnam as refugees. After two days, two nights and a Thai pirate attack on the open ocean, their boat landed on the coast of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, where Nguyen and her family stayed in a refugee camp for 14 months. At age 2, Nguyen immigrated into the United States. A family in Eugene, Oregon sponsored her family to America. She spent most of her childhood in San Jose and

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

, and became a

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

at age 10. Nguyen went on to attend college at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

on an academic scholarship. During her time at the university, Nguyen was a member of the cheer squad and served as president of her student body. In 2000, she 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 ...

of her class with a degree in communications and a minor in biology.

Professional career

Nguyen started her career with

Central Florida News 13 News 13 (also officially known as Spectrum News 13 as of September 24, 2017) is an American cable news television channel owned by Charter Communications. The channel provides 24-hour rolling news coverage focused primarily on Central Florida, ...

in Orlando, Florida. While there, she shot, wrote and edited her stories before delivering live reports. She wrote on her blog, "I was a 'one man band.' I shot my own video on a 20 pound DVC Pro camera (and) carried my own 15 pound tripod." She then moved to ABC affiliate

KOLO Kolo may refer to: Places Poland *Koło *Koło, Łódź Voivodeship * Koło, Lublin Voivodeship * Koło, Lubusz Voivodeship Other places * Kolo, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Kolo, Central African Republic * Kolo (Tanzanian ward), Kondoa district, Dod ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

as a nightside reporter and fill-in anchor. Following her time in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, Nguyen moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

to work with KSAZ. At KSAZ, she was able to cover national stories. Notable interviews include Alex Trebek,

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

, Shaquille O'Neal and Senator John McCain. Nguyen also had the opportunity to cover the Baseline Killer and

Serial Shooter A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

investigations while with KSAZ, which was the first instance in which two separate serial killers attacked the same city at the same time.

NBC

Nguyen returned to Northern California in January 2007, and started working with

NBC Bay Area KNTV (channel 11), branded as NBC Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's NBC network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television St ...

as a freelance reporter. Shortly thereafter she was hired full-time, and worked as a special assignment reporter for KNTV. Nguyen was eventually promoted to anchor/senior investigative reporter with KNTV. While in that role, she worked closely with the

Investigative Unit. In April 2019, Nguyen moved from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to New York to accept a new role as an investigative and consumer correspondent for

. Since joining

she has been on ''

'', ''3rd Hour Today'', ''Nightly News with Lester Holt'', NBC News Daily and

. She also co-anchors NBC News Daily.

Awards

Nguyen was honored with the 2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for "Drivers Under Siege" about the rise in violent attacks on Bay Area bus operators. Her work has also been recognized with the

Scripps Howard Award The Scripps Howard Awards, formerly the National Journalism Awards are $10,000 awards in American journalism given by the Scripps Howard Foundation. As of 2022, the categories are: * Excellence in Coverage of Breaking News * Excellence in Broad ...

, the Gerald Loeb Award, the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

's Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award, three Gracie awards, two Clarion awards, 15 regional Emmy awards and three regional Murrow awards. In addition, she has earned several awards from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). * 2015

– Jack R. Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth Local Coverage. * 2015 Gerald Loeb Award – Video/Audio Winner. * 2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. * 2020 New York Woman of Impact by

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Vicky 1979 births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people University of San Francisco alumni Vietnamese emigrants to the United States People from Ho Chi Minh City Gerald Loeb Award winners for Audio and Video American broadcast news analysts American investigative journalists People from Santa Rosa, California American people of Vietnamese descent People from San Jose, California Journalists from California