ABOUT ME

I am a historian of the Vietnam War and the Global Cold War. Currently, I am serving as the 2026-2027 Sang-Kee Kim Postdoctoral Fellow in International Affairs of East and Southeast Asia at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. During the 2025-2026 academic calendar, as the America in the World Consortium (AWC) predoctoral fellow at the University of Florida’s Hamilton School. At the end of the predoctoral fellowship, I received my PhD from Ohio University (2020–2026) under the supervision of Dr. Alec Holcombe, a leading scholar of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. My studies with Alec focused on modern Vietnamese history and included broader explorations of Southeast Asia and the history of global communism. In addition to Alec’s mentorship, my coursework included classes with a specialist on the Soviet Union, Steven Miner; a historian of the United States military during the Cold War, Ingo Trauschweizer; and a sinologist, Josh Hill. The historian of the Republic of Vietnam, Nu-Anh Tran, also graciously joined my dissertation committee as an outside reader. Each of these scholars has been incredibly supportive and influential in shaping my understanding of the Global Cold War from the perspectives of Vietnam, the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China, and the United States.

My book project, Cold War Citadel: Huế & The Global Vietnamese Civil War, 1945-1975, argues that the central Vietnamese city of Huế became the central military and political battleground in three decades of war in Vietnam from 1945 to 1975. During the dissertation stage, the Society for Military History awarded my project its dissertation award: the 2025 Allan R. Millet Dissertation Research Grant. My work adopts a Vietnam-Centric approach, focusing on the war in Vitenam, but draws on over a dozen international archives in France, Vietnam, and the United States.

Prior to attending Ohio University, I earned my Master of Arts degree at San Diego State University (SDSU), where I was mentored by Dr. Pierre Asselin, a leading historian of the Vietnam War and the Cold War. It was through Pierre’s graduate seminars that I first developed a fascination with the history of the Vietnam War. His encouragement was instrumental in shaping my academic journey. My studies at SDSU also included work with Dr. Gregory Daddis, a renowned American military historian of the Vietnam War, who served on my thesis committee. My time at SDSU was rewarding both professionally and personally. During my graduate seminars, I got to know one of my classmates, Katie, who later became my wife.

I have been fortunate to work closely with a handful of distinguished scholars in the fields of Vietnamese and Cold War history. Both Alec and Pierre have enriched my scholarship, offering invaluable perspectives that have shaped my understanding of Vietnam’s role in the broader context of the Cold War.