HuuDinh Nguyen

Mr. Nguyen DinhHuu is also affectionately known as Uncle or “Bac” Huu. His vision constantly guides us as we continue to make his goal of the protection and care of vulnerable children a reality. For over 25 years, BacHuu assisted vulnerable children in the United States, refugee camps in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, and now in central Vietnam. In refugee camps, he saw the terrible conditions under which unaccompanied minors were living, and saw how badly they fared when thousands of them were repatriated to Vietnam. This inspired him to set up projects for their assistance, including our highly successful shelter in the XuanPhu neighborhood of Hue City in central Vietnam. His self-less dedication and fervent belief that the children should be treated “as if they were our own” are the compass needle which steers our Board, staff and volunteers in the right direction in the face of adversity, whether it be in the form of fundraising challenges or dealing with red tape at the local or regional levels.

James M. Freeman

Co-Founder and former Chairman of the Board James M. Freeman, (Ph.D. Harvard) was Chair of the Board of Directors of Friends of Hue Foundation from 2000-2006. He is an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at San Jose State University, a former Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, winner of an American Book Award for Hearts of Sorrow: Vietnamese-American Lives, and co-author, with FHF Founder Nguyen DinhHuu, of Voices from the Camps: Vietnamese Children Seeking Asylum, which describes their assistance activities for unaccompanied minor children.

Richard C. Schmitt

Richard C. Schmitt is a Senior Advisor for Brown Schroeder & Associates, Inc. Dick was a partner with A. T. Kearney, Inc and served as Managing Director, Europe for A. T. Kearney Executive Search based in Brussels.

Dick holds a BA in economics from Xavier University and an MBA from the Tuck School. He was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Administrative Fellowship to support his work at Wilberforce University. Dick currently serves on the boards of Good Shepherd Housing & Family Services, The National Child Research Center (NCRC) and the Children of the Americas. He previously served on the boards of United Community Ministries, The Potomac School, The International School of Brussels, Ivymount School, the Advisory Board of the Washington International School and the Commission for Educational Exchange, The Fulbright Commission in Brussels. He also served as a member of Parents Council of Brown University.

He is an avid reader, travel enthusiast (all fifty states and almost sixty countries), skier and tennis player. He climbed to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro with his family a decade ago. Dick is a native of Detroit, Michigan and now resides in McLean, Virginia. He is married to Dabney Waters Schmitt, the Director of Development and Alumni Affairs at the Potomac School, and is the father of two sons.

Xuandai Nguyen

Ms. Xuandai Nguyen is the Group Product Manager at Genentech. She has extensive experience in research and product marketing for multinational biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Ms. Xuandai has a PhD in Philosophy of Pharmacology from New York Medical College, and an MBA from Cornell University. Her interest includes classical violin, outdoor activities, and traveling.