Dr. Giao Phan
Dean, Public and Social Services

Giao Phan knows from personal experience how a quality education can change the trajectory of a person’s life. When her family arrived in the US after fleeing the Vietnam War, they spoke no English and struggled to make ends meet. Yet her parents instilled in her and her siblings the importance of helping others and the belief that education would provide a better life.

Despite having a difficult time in school due to the language barrier and having to help support her family, she knew in the first grade that she wanted to become a teacher. She started her career straight out of college by volunteering with the Peace Corps, where she served as an English teacher trainer in a remote barrio in the Philippines. The entire experience was eye-opening for her: first time on an airplane, first time seeing waterfalls, snorkeling and caving, and the first time seeing the universal connection between poverty and education.

Giao taught in economically disadvantaged schools in New York City and Texas while earning her master’s degree from Teachers College Columbia University and her doctorate in Educational Policy and Planning from UT Austin. She served as the founding chair and professor of the Education Instruction department at ACC for ten years before becoming dean of Public and Social Services.

As dean, Giao enjoys the challenges of analyzing and solving problems and creatively exploring strategies for program development. She appreciates ACC’s community partners and their commitment to helping our students succeed, and she is even more inspired by our faculty and staff’s commitment to our students. Seeing the impact that ACC has on our students’ lives affirms her faith in the power of people helping each other to create change and improve our communities.