Early Life and Education
Cao's father, My Quang Cao (1931-2010), was a lieutenant in the South Vietnamese Army and was captured by the North Vietnamese Army at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. His mother, Khang Thi Tran (born 1935), did not immediately flee South Vietnam. She stayed with five of Cao's siblings and was allowed to visit her husband only five times during the seven years he was imprisoned in a Communist "re-education camp". Anh Cao was eight years old when he went to the United States in 1975 with two other siblings and an uncle as refugees. Once released, Cao's father joined his family in Houston, Texas, while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes.
Cao almost became a Roman Catholic priest. He graduated from Jersey Village High School in Houston. He then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He was a Jesuit seminarian for six years, but withdrew from his studies when he realized that the ministry was not his calling. He earned his Master of Arts in philosophy from Fordham University in New York City, and in 2000 his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. While in law school, he also taught undergraduate courses in philosophy at Loyola.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Cao
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