Tim and Cathy Tran Collection, 1970-2017

Tim (Khiem) and Cathy (Thuy) Tran were international students from South Vietnam who attended Pacific University from 1970-1972. During that time, they befriended the family of Professor George Evans, and Pacific alumna Bobbi Nickels, who ran the Upward Bound program. After two years at Pacific, Tim finished his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and Cathy finished her degree at the University of Oregon. The two returned to South Vietnam in 1974. When the war ended and Saigon was overrun by communist forces, the family endured great hardships. Tim's sister escaped to the United States, where Bobbi Nickels helped her. In 1979, Tim and Cathy escaped via boat and were placed in a refugee camp in Malaysia. The camp stove in this collection was made by hand from food tins in that camp. Eventually the Trans were able to immigrate to the United States and became naturalized citizens in 1986. They remained in touch with their friends at Pacific University. Tim went on to become the Chief Financial Officer of Johnstone Supply, and Cathy worked for U.S. Bank then The Standard and became accounting manager. In 2017, the Trans established the Khiem "Tim" Tran '74 and Thuy "Cathy" Tran '74 Library Endowment Fund at Pacific University. In honor of their gift, the library building on the Forest Grove campus, which was built in 2005, was dedicated as the Tim and Cathy Tran Library in a ceremony on October 6, 2017.