During his 5 years under the communist rule, the boy named Truong Nguyen Thanh was acigarette peddler at the Go Vap bus station, buffalo boy, grass cutter, ploughman ... at Lai Thieu, Binh Duong, to help his mother raise a family of 9 children and a hemiplegic father.
In 1980, together with his younger brother, Truong Hanh Phi, 14, and a cousin, 13, they fled Viet Nam by boat. In their five days on the tossing waves, they lost their cousin in a storm and were rescued by a U.S. Long Beach battle ship. Thanh and his brother were later sponsored by a Minnesota farmer, came to live with his family and attended high school there.
As Thanh could not read and write English, his year in high school was a terrible ordeal. However his efforts helped him complete his secondary education. He then attended the North Dakota State University and earned his B.S. with honor in Chemistry in 1985, with minors in Math, Computer, Physics and Statistics. He was accepted to pursue his post-graduate studies at many famous schools such as California Institute of Technology, the University of California at Berkeley, ... but he chose the University of Minnesota to study under the guidance of Professor Donald Truhlar, a worldwide renowned scientist, and received his Ph. D. in Theoritical Chemistry in 1990.
Dr. Thanh was selected by the National Science Foundation as one of the brightest young Ph. D.'s to receive a prestigious post-doctoral fellowship. He spent two years doing post doctoral research at the University of Houston under the guidance of Professor Audrew McCammon, a worldwide reputed biophysicist.
In 1992, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at University of Utah.
In 1993, Dr. Thanh was selected as one of the U.S. most promising young scientists. Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sunday, December 19, 1993, revealed that Thanh and two other researchers from University of Utah have been chosen over 169 young scientists to receive a substantial sum of money from the National Science Foundation to continue their reasearch programs. Thanh will get a maximum of 100,000 dollars each year, in five years, to achieve his research on chemical reactions affecting living creatures.
Dr. Thanh is also one of the founders of the Vietnamese Association in Utah and teaches English to young Vietnamese newly settled in Utah, according to The Salt Lake Tribune News, Wednesday, June 9, 1993 issue. This newspaper also revealed Dr. Thanh's contribution to the Vietnamese community, viewed him as a good example for Vietnamese new comers. He is presently Vice-chairman of the Asian Association in Utah. He always wishes that Vietnamese youths don't have to experience the hardships he has borne on his way to success.
Using the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) model to predict the structure of SF4 then confirming or validating the model by using molecular orbital theory.
Understand the differences between delocalized and localized molecular orbitals.
A brief overview on the concept of potential energy surface and how one can explore its topological features for calculating molecular properties and for elucidating reaction mechanisms.
Using Walsh correlation diagram of orbital energies as functions of the molecular angle to predict if it is bend or linear.
Analyze the ring strain in cyclo-alkanes using the isodesmic and homodesmotic reaction energetics.
Using a continuum solvation model to study the solvent effects in the SN2 Cl- + CH3Cl reaction.
Use homonuclear diatomic molecules to understand the concept of linear combination of atomic orbital (LCAO).
Examining the relative stability of products to explain for the observed production distribution in dehydration of an alcohol.
Examining the concept of orbital hybridization for understanding molecular structure using BeH2 and HCCH for sp, BH3 and H2C=CH2 for sp2, and CH4 and H3C-CH3 for sp3 hybridization.
Understanding the nature of different types of intermolecular forces.
Learn how to investigate reaction mechanism using molecular modeling.
Examining the concept of sigma bond and pi bond using a molecular orbital theory with H3C-CH3 and H2C=CH2.
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