Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) and the NOVA Educational Foundation held a ribbon-cutting naming ceremony of an expansive theater and forum on the Annandale Campus to honor Dr. Long Nguyen and Mrs. Kimmy Duong. NOVA, as a beneficiary of a $1.1 million transformational gift from the Kimmy Duong Foundation, will establish the Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong Endowed Scholarship. Their generous investment will change the lives of generations of students.
The Long Nguyen and Kimmy Duong Theater and Forum will serve as vital spaces for community events and celebrations for the diverse groups who call Annandale home. The ribbon-cutting event kicked off with remarks from Diane Mucci, provost of the Annandale Campus, Anne M. Kress president of NOVA, Kimmy Duong and Kelly Persons, executive director of the NOVA Educational Foundation.
“Education brings many benefits including raising incomes, improving health and fostering peace,” said Kimmy Duong. “Long and I are honored to give back to the community and pay it forward to the next generation of students.”
Dr. Nguyen and Mrs. Duong are distinguished philanthropists who generously support charitable causes in their home country of Vietnam, as well as endowing impactful student scholarship programs across the Commonwealth, in Maryland and in California. Understanding the absolute importance of education to society and to individuals, education has been a cornerstone of Dr. Nguyen and Mrs. Duong’s efforts to give back to their communities.
“They are humble in their success and are incredibly generous of spirit in understanding what it means to give back to the community,” said Anne M. Kress, president of NOVA. “Like NOVA, they believe in the power of education–not just to transform lives but to advance opportunity. Our College is honored today to announce and celebrate the transformational gift that will help students imagine and realize brighter futures.”
Event guests also toured and celebrated another major College milestone, NOVA’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Intercultural Learning Center, which opened in January. NOVA is currently designated as a top Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).
To find out more about the NOVA Educational Foundation, please visit giving.nvcc.edu. For questions about the NOVA Educational Foundation, please contact Damian Sinclair, director of development, at dsinclair@nvcc.edu or (703) 323-3747. For media questions about NOVA, please contact Hoang Nguyen, associate director of external communications at hdnguyen@nvcc.edu.
The NOVA Foundation was established in 1979 to raise private financial support to close the gap between Commonwealth funds and the resources required to offer excellence in programs to graduate highly sought-after talent. The mission of the educational foundation is to generate support for Northern Virginia Community College by raising funds, increasing visibility, and strengthening partnerships between the College and state and local communities. Funding supports programs with new campus buildings, the latest industry-specific equipment, programmatic innovation, and faculty retention to meet the demands of our region’s workforce. The Foundation supports more than 500 scholarships as well as academic innovation and inclusive excellence through robust annual grant programs that benefit the College's six campuses and NOVA Online. The NOVA Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. All gifts are tax deductible as allowed by law.