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������Ƶ is pleased to announce that Xuan-Thao Nguyen, who served as a Garvey Schubert Barer Visiting Professor of Law at UW in 2018–2019, has joined the ������Ƶ faculty as a professor of law. The UW Board of Regents also recently appointed her to the Pendleton Miller Endowed Chair in Law.

Nguyen is internationally renowned for her expertise in the intersections of business commercial law, financing, intellectual property, bankruptcy, licensing and taxation.

“I look forward to leveraging the rich experience from the legal and business communities to teach students inside and outside the classroom,” Nguyen said. “Seattle is a global city. I am excited to bring alumni and friends from the Seattle areas to my students. Inspire the students to think and solve legal problems creatively.”

She has received numerous awards in recognition of her interdisciplinary scholarship as well as her outstanding teaching and mentorship. These include the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award in 2020 and the 2016 Grant Gilmore Award from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers.

Nguyen is a senior consultant for the World Bank/IFC on financial infrastructure projects in China, Vietnam, and the Mekong Region. In her consultant capacity, she conducts workshops and provides drafting comments to financing and data protection proposed legislations and international best practices. She works with China People’s Court Press, China National People’s Congress _Legislative Affairs Commission, Supreme People’s Court, People’s Bank of China-Credit Information Systems Bureau, Vietnam Supreme People’s Court, Vietnam National Banks Association, Judicial General Council of Mongolia, and Cambodia Ministry of Justice in the training of judges, lawyers, and bank officials on financing and data protection law. She currently serves on the Scientific Council, University of Economics & Law, Vietnam National University, shaping the University’s strategic vision.

“Research is the vehicle I use to increase ������Ƶ’s impact in Washington and the world,” Nguyen said. “With my scholarship in financing, tax, bankruptcy, data protection and intellectual property, I help solve problems faced stakeholders and policy makers in my work with the World Bank Group. These projects allow me to shine the importance of UW’s Law in legal and business reforms.”

Meeting people — especially students — with a strong passion for excellence and innovation is what Nguyen finds most inspiring about her work and is part of what excites her about joining the ������Ƶ community.

“What I enjoy most about working with students is seeing their faces and eyes filled with joy in learning about business and financing laws, the interconnections among different laws,” she said. “I want my students to be fearless. Think about what you are learning and dream about what you are believing impossible.”

Nguyen has a few immediate goals as she begins her work at ������Ƶ.

“On scholarship, I desire to finish my second Cambridge University Press book about how a community, independent bank helped shape Silicon Valley and innovation centers in the United States,” she said. “I am always attracted to how businesses and individuals disrupt and change the law. This book is about disruption.”

“Next, along the disruption theme, I will focus on a series of research projects on blockchain games and governance,” she said. “Likewise, I will examine whether Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics approach in the banking and VC industries is really reimagining capitalism.”

In addition to her scholarship and teaching, Nguyen also serves as the director of the law school’s Asian Law Center

The Asian Law Center works to create an inclusive learning community to deepen the knowledge of law, business, culture, economic development and socio-political systems in Asia. The center fosters open dialogue and mutual understanding through center-sponsored events and scholarly exchanges. With strong connections in Asia, the center promotes collaboration across legal and business practices and academic disciplines.

In one of her first duties as director, Nguyen traveled to Vietnam to train banking officials, judges, lawyers and managers about Secured Financing Law & Best Practices, Inventory/Receivable Financing and Fintech. She also held a high-level meeting with banking regulators and officials on Financial Data and Data Analytics with the purpose of creating a legal framework in Vietnam on financial data. Learn more about the trip.

Prior to joining ������Ƶ, Nguyen has been the Gerald L. Bepko Chair in Law and director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Innovation at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and earned her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.