From Vietnam to Pensacola, School alumni connect
April 9, 2015
When Frank Wilkes, PhD, learned that someone was moving into the house two doors down from his home in Pensacola, Fla., he had no idea that he already had a connection with his new neighbor.
Wilkes, who graduated from UNC with a Master of Science in Public Health (1964) and a doctorate in environmental sciences and engineering (1968), moved to Pensacola when he retired in 2002 after a career at the Environmental Protection Agency. When he finally met his new neighbor, Dinh Vu, PhD, he was stunned to learn that they shared an alma mater.
“I was wearing a UNC shirt when I met him,” Wilkes said. “After we shook hands, he pointed to my shirt and said ‘Ah, the University of North Carolina. I went there – to the School of Public Health.’ My mouth dropped open and I told him that I attended the School of Public Health not long after he did.”
Since meeting, Wilkes and Dinh have become close friends. They love sharing memories from their time at UNC and discussing their careers in public health.
“We began to connect in terms of who was still there on the faculty and who had left. We quickly became friends,” said Dinh.
In fact, when Wilkes shared a copy of the Carolina Public Health magazine celebrating the school’s 75th anniversary (fall 2014), Dinh recognized a photo of his former mentor, Dr. Lucy Morgan, the founding chair of the School’s health behavior department.
UNC and the Gillings School of Global Public Health aren’t the only topics of discussion for these two friends, however. Wilkes also loves hearing about Dinh’s life and his journey from Vietnam to the United States in the years leading up to the Vietnam War.
“He’s just got an amazing story,” Wilkes said.
Dinh, originally from Hanoi, was working to bring refugees from North Vietnam to South Vietnam when he heard about a scholarship to come to the U.S. and study public health. He was placed at UNC, where he studied health education at the public health school for two years – including three semesters of master’s-level coursework and one semester of field work. He earned a Certificate of Public Health in 1958.
Shortly after returning to Vietnam, Dinh was drafted into the army and served for four years as a second lieutenant. Because of the need for public health workers, he was transferred to the Ministry of Health to work as chief of the Health Education Bureau. In this capacity, he was able to start using the skills he learned at UNC, such as working on community development and making educational posters and pamphlets.
“I even helped publish a new bi-monthly magazine called Living Strong & Healthy, or Sống Khỏe in Vietnamese,” Dinh said.
He eventually returned to the U.S., earning the Master of Science in Public Health degree, as well as a doctorate in medical geography from the University of Hawaii. He became an American citizen and worked in health planning in Houston, Texas for 24 years.
In addition to his academic and public health career, Dinh also continues to help others learn more about Vietnamese culture. He translated and annotated a book of Vietnamese poetry, which he shares with friends, including Wilkes. (See below.)
Now retired, Dinh moved to Pensacola because the climate was better for his health.
Even after all these years, Dinh and Wilkes still have fond memories of attending UNC.“The campus was always so beautiful to me,” Dinh said.
Wilkes, who had attended a smaller school for his undergraduate degree, recalls being amazed by all that UNC had to offer. “I was in awe of the place for a long time,” said Wilkes. “My first football game in Kenan Stadium was very exciting.”
Dinh also had some memorable experiences at UNC sporting events, including seeing snow for the first time in his life at a UNC football game and celebrating when the men’s basketball team won a national championship in 1957.
Most of all, Dinh and Wilkes are in awe of the connection that attending the Gillings School of Global Public Health has given them.
“It’s quite amazing, really,” Dinh said. “A young man from Vietnam travels across the Pacific to the United States and ends up in Florida near another UNC School of Public Health alumnus. It’s really great.”
–by Taylor Chronis
Below is part of Dr. Dinh’s translation of the Vietnamese poem, “The Lotus Flower.” This and other poems he has translated appear in Selected Vietnamese Poetry, R&M, 2001.