Tribute: Trinh Huynh 04L

Tinh Huynh

Born in Saigon, Vietnam, into the crushing wake of violence and war, Trinh Huynh 04L was just a toddler when she and her family joined the hundreds of thousands who escaped their homeland by boat. In the US, where her family settled in Gainesville, she thrived—attending Princeton University and then Emory’s School of Law.

She was respected and well-liked in the Atlanta legal community. After beginning her career at top firms Powell Goldstein and Alston and Bird, she became an in-house attorney for UPS and was a board member for the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Huynh also mentored students on the Grady High School mock trial team and was a member of the advisory board of the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network.

On April 3 of this year, Huynh, forty, was shot to death in a crosswalk in midtown Atlanta on her way to catch MARTA to the office. Police believe she was targeted by the attacker, a man with a history of mental illness and violence, although no motive was specified. He was arrested and indicted in Huynh’s murder.

In January, Huynh posted on her Facebook page that she was a “proud refugee.” “I am thankful for the opportunities this wonderful country has afforded me and my family,” Huynh wrote. “I would not be here if the state of Georgia and this country had closed their doors and hearts to my family. I think this great state and the US have more love to give.”

Raymond Tran 18L was recently awarded the first scholarship in honor of Huynh given by the Vietnamese American Bar Association.