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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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2015-01-01 |
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| Name | Peng Her |
| Address | 5310 Arapahoe Ln
Madison, Wisconsin , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
Unknown
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Jun 10, 2022 12:45pm |
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| Info | I was born in Long Cheng, Laos in 1971 during the Vietnam War. My father, Cha Yeu Her, was a school teacher and my mother, Shoua, took care of the family farm while raising me and my siblings. Because of the Hmong’s alliance with the United States during the war, my people were targeted for genocide at the end of the war in May of 1975. We were forced to flee through dense jungle under the cover of night, chased by Communist soldiers into Thailand, only to live in the squalor of a refugee camp. Like many other Hmong families, we made our way to Ban Vinai Refugee camp in Thailand where I lived with 45,000 other Hmong refugees on less than 1 square mile with no running water. Life was hard in the refugee camp, and eventually my father made the difficult decision to leave behind our family, our friends, and the only country I knew for a chance of a better life in America.
I had to work hard in order to learn English and adapt to my new country, but adapt I did. By high school, I was active in many extra-curricular activities, joining the wrestling team and starting at middle linebacker for the Oskaloosa High School Indians. However, it was my involvement in student council that first exposed me to the importance of public service and the responsibilities of elected office. After graduation, I put myself through Central College with the money from a job at a Pella Windows factory. Working side-by-side with parents who had labored for decades in the factory to support their family made a profound impact on me, reinforcing what it meant to work hard when you have the responsibility of providing for your spouse and children. After graduating with a B.S. in Physics, I then attended DePaul University in Chicago to obtain my Masters in Applied Physics, going on to become the first Hmong physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, America’s first national science and engineering research laboratory and the largest of its kind in the Midwest. I then volunteered with Hmong National Development, where I met my wonderful wife, Mai Zong Vue, who I married in 1999. Mai Zong now works as the Intercultural Liaison in the state’s Department of Administration
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