Nguyet Anh Duong

Born: 1960

Country of Birth: South Vietnam

Nationality: Vietnamese-American

Ethnicity: Asian

University of Maryland, College Park B.S. Chemical Engineering & B.S. Computer Science 1982;

"“Explosives developers are a small community. We know one another, and we collaborate a lot. It was not just my work individually. Everything is teamwork.’’(mobileapp.bostonglobe.com); “The Duong family has had many generations of nationally recognized scholars and distinguished public servants, dating all the way back to the 19th century. At one point, my grandfather and his oldest son and grandson all served side by side under the same king. So the king wrote a 16-word poem to congratulate the Duong family for this outstanding achievement, and my grandfather took those 16 words and turned them into middle names for the next 16 Duong generations. And his intention was for us to continue to strive for excellence, but most importantly, to remember to use our God-given talents to serve our country, not for personal gains, but to serve our country and people.” (herstemspace.org); "I always wanted to be a writer. Every now and then, when the seasons change, I look out my office window and have to resist the impulse to grab pen and paper to write some poetry." (vietamericanvets.com); "This (U.S.A.) land is a paradise not because of its beauty or richness but because of its people, the compassionate, generous Americans who took my family and me in, 32 years ago, and healed our souls, who restore my faith in humanity, and who inspire me to public service. There's a special group of people that I'm especially indebted to and I would like to dedicate this medal to them. They are the 58,000 Americans whose names are on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial and the 260,000 South Vietnamese soldiers who died in that war in order for people like me to earn a second chance to freedom" (en.academic.com); "

— Nguyet Anh Duong

Field of Study: Computer Science; Chemical Engineering

Institution/Corporation: Naval Service Warfare Center

Degrees & Memberships: None found

Awards: 1999 Dr. Arthur E. Bisson Prize for Achievement in Naval Technology; 2001 Civilian Meritorious Medal, Department of Defense; 2004 Excellence in Public Service, Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce; 2007 National Security Medal;

Achievements: led the team that created the BLU-118/B, a laser-guided bomb designed to travel deep into confined spaces (AKA the Bunker Buster Bomb)( BLU stands for Bomb Live Unit); responsible for the creation of an American thermobaric weapon by leading a team of 100 scientists who developed & created 11 bombs within 67 days after 9/11;