Career
A Hmong American and a prolific author, she has written books for children and adults. She soon found herself a refugee in Thailand. She eventually settled in the United States in 1979, where she was able to begin formal studies in the ninth grade.
In 1983, she graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School, in Denver, Colorado, ranking thirtieth in a class of 251 students.
In 1987, she joined the Institute of Foreign Studies and spent a semester studying at the University of London. In December 1989, Dia received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Metropolitan State College, Denver, Colorado.
In December, 1992, she was awarded a Master of Arts in applied anthropology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. After additional studies, she received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado.
