Duy-Loan T. Le (born 1962,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

) is an engineer and the first woman and Asian elected as a

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

Senior Fellow.

Early life

Born in

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

, in 1962 to a labor-class family,Nguyen, Cuong Quoc
"Vietnamese Defies Odds to Become A Top Woman in Technology"
''NHA Magazine'', Aug 10, 2005 (Pacific News Article on Duy-Loan's Achievements) (archived 2008) Duy-Loan Le fled to the U.S. without her father and a family of nine in 1975, eventually settling in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Her family joined her in the U.S. few years later. Although Le knew no English when she arrived, she mastered the language fast enough to graduate from Alief Hastings High School at 16 as Valedictorian of her class of 335 students. In 1976, she received her first recognition in the US as 'Citizen of the Month' from Kiwanis International Club. In 1981, The

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

featured her as 'Scholastic Wonder'; she also received commendation from The Office of The Ambassador of The Royal Netherlands for her scholastic achievement and her humanitarian effort in fund raising to aid the Vietnamese refugees.

University work and career

In 1982, at the age of 19, Le received her undergraduate BSEE degree,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

, from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

and subsequently obtained her MBA in May 1989 from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

while working full-time. She began her career at

as a memory design engineer. Le's technical contributions at Texas Instruments were recognized when she was elected a Member of Technical Staff in 1990, Senior Member of Technical Staff in 1993, the first woman at TI to be elected Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 1997, and the first woman elected TI-Fellow in 1999. Currently she manages development projects for wireless communications as TI program manager for Laplace (a

Digital signal processor A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor chip, with its architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing. DSPs are fabricated on metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit chips. ...

(DSP) chip for 3G base stations) and also serves as manager of DSP Advanced Ramp. In 2002, Le became the first Asian-American, and the first woman, to be elected TI Senior Fellow in Texas Instruments' 75-year history. She joins four men who hold this title at TI worldwide. Today she remains the only woman with this title.

Philanthropy

Le participates in numerous charity and fund raising projects for colleges, orphanages, and charity foundations. She serves on the Board of two non-profit organizations which promote education and support social economic development projects in the third world. Le has worked to advance education and learning conditions in Vietnam. She believes that by doing so, the environment for learning will produce more students who will be able to improve the overall state of Vietnam. She recently achieved her longtime dream of bringing soundly-built school facilities to rural Vietnam with the opening of “Thanh Thoi B”—a schoolhouse accommodating 120 elementary-age students and whose construction she played a leadership role in implementing. Her dream is to raise enough money to build 100 schools in five years. This activity complements well her similar effort in 10 other countries. Le speaks annually at numerous national events to help create an environment that stimulates and releases leadership potential in women and Asian Americans. Le's service to the community includes: *

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

, Vietnamese Culture & Science Association's sponsored projects, and taught Junior Achievement for many years. * Director of Mona Foundation, promoting education and supporting social economic development in 10 countries including Nur University and

Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore is a Baháʼí inspired, though independent residential vocational education school providing programs for women in the vicinity of the city of Indore, India, in the state of Madhya Pradesh ...

* Founding member and Advisory Board Director for Sunflower mission bringing educational assistance to Vietnam. * Founding member and Honorary Board Director for Science National Honor Society, promoting math and science at high schools. * ECE Visiting committee for The University of Texas College of Engineering. * Serving on University of Texas (UT) Commission 125, shaping UT's educational future for the next 25 years. * An invited speaker nationwide (including universities,

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

, and

Women in Technology International Women in Technology International (WITI) is an organization promoting the achievements of women in technology and extending support, opportunities, and inspiration. It was founded by Carolyn Leighton in 1989 as the International Network of Women in ...

(WITI))

Personal life

Duy-Loan Le is married to Tuan N. Dao. They have two sons, Dan Dao and Don Dao. She also holds a black belt in

Taekwon-Do Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

and has won several medals and trophies in the State of Texas. Le enjoys deep-sea fishing, playing poker, and reading. She listens to classical music and also traditional Vietnamese music.

Achievements and awards

*Leader of the development of TI's Digital Signal Process products, including one recognized in the 2004

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

as the fastest single-core DSP in the world. *Accumulated 24 patents, all earning places in Texas Instruments' Hall of Fame. *Top 20 Houston Women in Technology in 2000 *Women in Technology Hall of Fame in 2001 *National Technologist of the Year at the Women of Color Conference held in Atlanta in September, 2002. *Director of Board of National Instruments *Outstanding Young Graduate Award from University of Texas-College of Engineering *Outstanding Young Texas Exe Award from The University of Texas-Texas Exes *Asian American Engineer of the year *2007 Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award for Leadership *Congressional Special Recognition *In 2007, she made an appearance and was interviewed for her outstanding achievements on Paris By Night DVD 90 - "Chan Dung Nguoi Phu Nu Viet Nam," a musical show celebrating Vietnamese women around the world. *2017 Asian Hall of Fame

References

External links

Sunflower Mission's Official Website
- Science National Honor Society
Asian American Forum 2003 Leadership Institute
Duy-Loan Le as one of the Featured Speakers
Quick facts on Duy-Loan Le
- University of Texas at Austin, Thursday, July 31, 2003
Vang 2006 Honorees
(archived 2006)
Duy-Loan Le: Bold Visions Women in Science and Technology"
, TV documentary
"Interview with Duy-Loan Le"
''Blacktie Arizona'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Duy-Loan 1962 births Living people People from Khánh Hòa province People from Nha Trang Cockrell School of Engineering alumni Le, Duy Loan Le, Duy Loan Texas Instruments people University of Houston alumni Vietnamese emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women