Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh has been director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement since September 2001. In this capacity, he is the national leader in domestic refugee resettlement. He has extensive experience in teaching university-level environmental protection and economic development, as well as in writing technical papers and participating in international conferences.

Van Hanh holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Davis, with specialization in public finance, economic development and international trade. Earlier, he received a bachelor of science degree with high honors from the University of Florida and a master of science degree in agricultural science from the same university.

From 1976 to 1981 he was the director of Office of Refugee Affairs at the California Health and Welfare Agency, where he also served as coordinator of the governor’s California refugee task force.

From 1985 until his current appointment, he was a part-time faculty member at California State University in Sacramento, where he taught environmental science, engineering economics and socioeconomic adaptation of refugees from Southeast Asia. He has published papers and made presentations at international conferences on these subjects. He also has been manager of market analysis and development, and member of the Environmental Technology Certification Program and the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). In 1990 he served as representative of California Governor Deukmejian on community relations, and earlier had managed various programs as a senior economist in water resources for the state of California.

From 1991 to 1993, Van Hanh was the deputy director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Prior to 1975, he was the director general of planning for South Vietnam, in charge of economic development. After returning to Vietnam from the U.S. in 1965, he joined the Nuclear Research Institute in Dalat, South Vietnam to conduct research on radiation biology. He also graduated from the U.S. Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and served as faculty member of the military academy in Dalat, Vietnam.

Over the past decade, Van Hanh has received numerous awards and certificates of appreciation from the California legislature, the Department of Social Services, joint CSUS-UCD teaching recognition, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture, professional associations and community based non-profit organizations nationwide.

As a presidential appointee, Dr. Van Hanh is a member of the Senior Executive Services of America.