None of us would have chosen Hang Loi’s start in America. She was 9 when her world exploded and her family fled the Fall of Saigon. Her immigrant experience entailed desperate flights, refugee camps, and starting over in a cold new city where she did not know the language.

Like so many immigrants and refugees before them, the Loi family strived and eventually thrived in Ohio, as you’ll learn in the cover story in this issue of Case Alumnus. Hang (pronounced “Hahng”) recently retired from 3M as a highly decorated inventor and engineer. She can look back with pride and some astonishment at what her family accomplished.

Case is a small but meaningful part of that success story.

After excelling in public high school in Toledo, both Hang and her older sister, Oanh Loi Powell ’87, were drawn to Case Institute of Technology for its academic rigor. Hang chose to major in chemical engineering because she heard it was especially difficult. Really.

“I always like a challenge,” she told me.

While often the only woman in her classes, and sometimes the only Asian, she persevered. She credits Case for a great education and opportunities she never imagined. She worked in a lab, studied abroad, and scored free tickets to Cleveland Orchestra concerts. In the cultural milieu of University Circle, she earned a second bachelor’s degree in piano. She met the 3M recruiter at a campus job fair.

Many are hoping Hang’s story will motivate other women to pursue careers in STEM, and I suspect it will. Because, really, we can all be inspired by her drive and resiliency. Her story is quintessentially American – and oh so Case.