Having inspired over 25 million people worldwide, Anh-Thu Nguyen, the Founder of Asian Women in Aerospace and Aviation and the 10th woman to fly solo around the world in 2024, has worked relentlessly to overcome tremendous challenges since leaving behind her beloved war ravaged remote village in Tuy-Hoa, Vietnam, where she received her elementary and middle school education from a UNICEF-built school.  Growing up in a village with no electricity and running water, flying high was simply and realistically just a big dream, and dream big she did.

To many other women around her, she is the epitome of women empowerment and strength. Arriving in America at the age of 12 with no English through her freedom-searching risk-taking boat refugee brother, her family lived in poverty and relied on welfare and food stamps, but she had a burning dream to fly. She had no support system. In fact, many people around her, including flight instructors, actively discouraged and readily disqualified her. Hansen powerfully said “It takes nothing to stand with the crowd but everything to stand alone.” Earning $6/hr as a Math tutor & taking out student loans, she lived in my car and perhaps unlawfully crashed in airports during flight training in order to become a pilot & later AOPA Distinguished Flight Instructor, and a B767 pilot for a major carrier.

All of her hard work started to pay off when she graduated valedictorian of her high school and top 10 of her college class from Purdue University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. Along the way, she has faced constant setbacks and disappointments in her personal life and academic career, but she has always been determined to move forward.

Regardless of her many achievements, Anh-Thu’s presence at airports in 2021 is surprisingly still a source of confusion and a huge shock to many including airport security personnel, who on many occasions, have denied her entry through the gate. On a daily basis, she constantly has to explain herself and convince people that she's a pilot. After facing so many challenges, it is now her mission and civic responsibility to raise visibility and awareness to women in aviation and to promote aerospace education for young girls.  Only 6% of all pilots in the world are female, and only 7 women have successfully circumnavigated the globe. 

Her stories are inspirational and have taught many women around her to dare to dream the impossible even when things are difficult.