Winter Lecture Series 2025 – Leah Nguyen Oliva: Growing Up with Boat People

Join us at the Texas Maritime Museum for our annual Winter Lecture Series every Monday from 12:00-1:00 p.m. This free program is one of our most popular adult programs and offers twelve weeks of engaging and informative presentations by distinguished professionals in their respective fields. Complimentary light refreshments will be available.

This week, Leah Nguyen Oliva will speak on the topic of Growing Up with Boat People.

Leah Nguyen Oliva was part of the wave of Vietnamese immigration into Texas in the mid-1970s. Her family settled on the Gulf Coast, where she grew up and graduated from college. She holds an MBA and has worked as a Global Human Resources Professional in the oil and gas industry for 20 years. From 2015 to 2020, she returned to her hometown of Rockport, TX, where she still volunteers and serves in various community roles. As a representative of the local Vietnamese community and president and vice president of the Aransas County History Center, she initiated, designed, curated, and coordinated numerous programs at the Center, Fulton Mansion, and Texas Maritime Museum. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Rockport Cultural Arts District.

On her initiative, the History Center partnered with the Rockport Cultural Arts District to create a Reconciliation Program between American and Vietnamese Veterans. She invited an international expert from the Smithsonian Institute to discuss Southeast Asian refugees and their migration to America. In 2019, she helped organize the Texas Tropical Trails Region program, which provided insights into Southeast Asian immigration to the Texas Coast, its impact on the shrimping and oyster industries, and the popularity of traditional cuisine. She also authored a chapter on Vietnamese cuisine for the book “Foodways: The Culinary Traditions of Aransas County.”

Her recent children’s book, “Growing Up with the Boat People,” recounts a personal migration tale from South Vietnam to the Texas Gulf Coast in the 1970s. The story and illustrations echo the experiences of children who undertook the journey, facing enormous challenges such as adapting to a new language, customs, cuisine, and laws. It is a testament to the courage, resilience, and ingenuity of the Vietnamese American community. The attainment of religious, economic, and political freedoms is an inspiring beacon to present-day immigrants.

Professionally, after leading roles within the international oil and gas sector, she has instructed college courses. Currently, Leah is managing her own health insurance business. She lives in Southern New Mexico with her husband of 28 years, her teenage son, and her two little dogs.