EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: NANCY NGUYEN


If you work in Administration and Finance, chances are you know Nancy Nguyen. She�s the friendly face and welcoming smile in the lobby of the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor/Vice President of Administration and Finance. As the administrative assistant, Nguyen is the gatekeeper of sorts for division-wide projects, meetings and celebrations and the right-hand-woman to our A&F leaders.

A Houston native, Nguyen joined the UH family in February 2008 after learning about the position during a career fair at Reliant Stadium. Before the fair, she was working in the medical field providing administrative support for a private clinic and was hoping to find a new opportunity. She is now in charge of the day-to-day activities in the office providing administrative support to Dr. Carl Carlucci, Emily Messa and Tom Ehardt. Throughout the day, she is in charge of scheduling, organizing meetings, assisting in the development of presentations, and any other administrative duties that may come up. She said she has a variety of tasks but there isn�t one that she prefers over the rest.

�I love them all!� she said. �I just like keeping busy. It�s very fun and very interesting.�

When she first began her position, she said it was a very memorable time because of the support and friends she found at the university. She said the group in the business services office during that time were always there to help her out when she had questions.

�They are the most adorable people!� she said. �They helped guide me step-by-step when I was new to the university. They spoiled me.�

Now Nguyen has settled into her position and feels confident being in the center of the action. In her position, Nguyen has the opportunity to facilitate meetings for Administration and Finance Leadership as well as several A&F committees. She said she feels these meetings are an important part of our administration because decisions are made based on participation and feedback from all facets of the campus community including faculty, staff and students. She said she admires the people in her office and has learned a lot from them.

�I�m very fortunate that Emily and her group are the ones that trained me how to be efficient and cultivate me in this job. I see how they work, how passionate they are, how courteous they are and it motivates me to be in that path and made me learn that that�s the best way to communicate with everyone and to get the best results in your career,� she said.

She has also been inspired by these leaders to go back to school this semester and pursue her degree in accounting. She credits them as her �main motivation� and currently attends classes part-time, balancing her full time position with the university and her time at home with her two-year old daughter, Jocelyn, and husband of four years, Chau.