Nguyen Ngoc Bich ’58

Bich died March 2, 2016, of a massive heart attack during a flight to the Philippines. He was born in Hanoi in 1937 and moved to Saigon 10 years later to escape communism.

He entered our class as a junior on a Fulbright Scholarship. Bich majored in politics and lived in Prospect Club his senior year.

After the fall of Saigon, he settled in Springfield, Va., where he was instrumental in the development of the Vietnamese community. He held several teaching positions in adult, elementary, and high-school education in Arlington. After that, he taught Vietnamese culture and civilization at Trinity College and George Mason University. Bich served as deputy, then as acting director, of the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages from 1991 to 1993 in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. He served as the first director of the Vietnamese Service at Radio Free Asia beginning in 1997.

For years he ran a publishing company and authored numerous books, mainly in English, about his Vietnamese heritage and lifelong fight against communism. After retiring, he attended numerous meetings and events in support of his lifelong dream of freedom and basic human rights for the Vietnamese.

To his wife of 48 years, Dr. Doa Thi Hoi, and his extended family, the class extends its condolences.