Background
Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam. She grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin.
Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam. She grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin.
Nguyen graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor"s degree in broadcast journalism.
Prior to joining National Broadcasting Company in 2013, Nguyen worked for Columbia Broadcasting System News where she was news anchor for Columbia Broadcasting System This Morning Saturday, correspondent for The Early Show, and anchored the Columbia Broadcasting System Morning News. She is of Vietnamese and Scottish American descent. Nguyen and her family left Vietnam for the United States April 1975 during the Fall of Saigon.
Betty joined National Broadcasting Company in 2013.
She anchors Early Today on National Broadcasting Company, First Look on Microsoft and National Broadcasting Company, and is a correspondent for the Today Show. Prior to that, she worked at Columbia Broadcasting System News where she was news anchor for Columbia Broadcasting System This Morning Saturday, correspondent for Early Today, and anchored the Columbia Broadcasting System Morning News.
During her tenure, she also substitute anchored the weekend edition of The Columbia Broadcasting System Evening News and took on the additional role of Special Correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. Before becoming a network anchor and correspondent for Columbia Broadcasting System News in 2010, Nguyen anchored the weekend morning edition of Cable News Network Newsroom.
She spent six years at Cable News Network covering major news events including the earthquake in Haiti, presidential elections in Africa, hurricane Katrina, the death of Pope John Paul II, and went on an undercover assignment in Myanmar.
Prior to that, Nguyen was an anchor at KTVT-television, the Columbia Broadcasting System affiliate in Dallas, where she covered numerous breaking news events, including the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Nguyen began her career as a morning anchor and reporter at KWTX-television, the Columbia Broadcasting System affiliate in Waco, Texas. She was recognized by the Smithsonian Institution in 2007 as the first Vietnamese-American to anchor a national television news broadcast in the United States.
According to Maxim.com, Nguyen was named one of "televisionĀ“s 10 Hottest News Anchors" in 2008.
In 2011, she was listed as one of "The 10 Most Stylish Anchors & Reporters" by The Huffington Post. She spent a short time as a freelance correspondent for East! Entertainment Network.
Nguyen has hosted several specials and was featured as a reporter on episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. She can also be seen in Spike Lee"s "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts".
Nguyen is a Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks and Texas Longhorns fan.
Fleeing Vietnam
Nguyen was "not even a year old" toward the end of the Vietnam War when her family fled South Vietnam. From a Cable News Network videotape, she speaks about her father.
Nguyen was a cheerleader during her younger days, and a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority in college. Member of the Asian American Journalists Association.