Dat Duong began making world-changing contributions in high school, where he worked with mental health and suicide prevention organizations. His deep interest in public health (pre-med) was clear when he came to the Forty Acres, but he felt uncertain about how to turn that passion into something meaningful.
“I came in as a passionate little kid, but I felt a little lost for a bit,” he reflects. “I knew I had a greater purpose here, but I didn’t really know how to apply it.” Over the next four years, he explored new opportunities that helped him learn how to put that passion into action.
During his junior year, Dat co-founded the West Campus Collective, a food recovery program that redistributes food surplus to students in need. “We started off with just me — a one-man show — and one food partner. We distributed 23 meals on the first day. Now it’s grown to a team of 15, and we’ve distributed 4,000 meals.”
Dat’s leadership skills grew when he became the first co-director of Student Government’s Food Security Agency, where he helped address food insecurity on campus. The agency partnered with Parking and Transportation Services to launch a campus grocery shuttle that provides students access to food.
Dat plans to continue promoting food access and equity as critical components of public health through a Master of Public Health program at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, which he began in fall 2025 — a pursuit made possible by the generous support and encouragement he received from UT donors.
“Scholarships mean opportunity,” Dat says. “They mean that a first-generation immigrant from Vietnam can live out his dream of becoming a doctor. Scholarships have opened doors not only for me, but for students before and after me, allowing us to break barriers and create spaces that change the world.”