Khanh D. Pham
The most reward has been his government service for academies and Research and Development (R&D) community at large. The government service at AFRL has allowed Dr. Pham to meet and connect with many outstanding students and faculty across US, while at the same time allowing him to communicate, influence, and collaborate with many entrepreneurs. It gives him many opportunities to gain experience in leading diverse teams of technical professionals across multiple theaters that include forethoughts, cultural differences and multidisciplinary teamwork that have enhanced his “global view” of the US Air Force. Like so many others, Dr. Pham is simply motivated by various opportunities to business acumen and gaining soft skills around communications, influencing, and collaborating. And, he might just interest more Asian American Pacific Islander people in Federal service who may have never considered Federal jobs. Working for AFRL has allowed him to go after opportunities to lead, plan, drive strategy, and move from an engineer, to a scientist, and eventual leadership role. Because of work performance, leadership, contributions to society and potential for continued excellence, as Dr. Pham looks back now he thinks he has come to understand what it really means for “Vietnamese by birth, American by circumstance, Asian-American by choice.”