The Founder: My T. Nguyen, Ph.D.
It was Mr. Nguyen’s ability to recognize opportunities that led him back to his hometown of TraVinh City (formerly TraVinh Town), where he founded Mylan Chemicals, Inc. (MCI) in 2004. This event marked the fulfillment of a dream held since 1979, the year he escaped from Vietnam on an overcrowded, rickety fishing boat.
“I didn’t know if I was going to survive, let alone ever return to the country of my birth,” Mr. Nguyen said of his departure from Vietnam. “Yet, I envisioned someday building a company to employ the people of my hometown.”
Mr. Nguyen had numerous obstacles to overcome before his dream could be realized, however. He was on the verge of starvation when he was rescued from the South China Sea and placed in the Pulao Bidong Refugee Camp in Malaysia. Luckily, his fortune proved to be better than that of many of his fellow refugees. With the help of a friend, he was accepted for immigration to Canada within two weeks of his arrival at the camp.
Like many new immigrants to North America, Mr. Nguyen had to start from scratch. Although he had graduated from the University of Saigon with a chemical engineering degree, he began his life in Montreal as a dishwasher and waiter at a Vietnamese restaurant. After learning English, Mr. Nguyen juggled his night shifts at the restaurant with a full-time university course load, completing his bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry in only seven years.
Upon completing his education, Mr. Nguyen moved to the United States to work at the renowned IBM Almaden Research Center in California and later at Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG) in New Jersey. During his time at KPG, Mr. Nguyen was a leading contributor to the company’s patented thermal computer-to-plate technology.
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