Thao is a PhD student in educational policy studies with a concentration in comparative and international education at UW–Madison. Her research explores the intersections of culture, history, and education, focusing on how Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) and historical governance structures shape educational inequality in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
Thao holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Manchester, UK, and a master’s degree in public administration from Indiana University – Bloomington. As a graduate associate at the Center for Culture, History, and Environment, she seeks to bridge historical institutional analysis with education policy, examining how legacies of colonialism and governance inform contemporary disparities in learning outcomes. She is also committed to fostering cross-regional dialogues on Confucian traditions in education across China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.