{"id":45351,"date":"2019-04-24T13:29:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T18:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=45351"},"modified":"2019-04-24T13:29:16","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T18:29:16","slug":"%ef%bb%bffor-fhsu-grad-tuan-huynh-nurturing-talent-is-part-of-the-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=45351","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffFor FHSU grad Tuan Huynh, nurturing talent is part of the dream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kurt Beyers
<\/strong> University Relations and Marketing
<\/em> For 25 years now, one of the largest advertising companies on the planet, Leo Burnett Worldwide, has been sending people to Fort Hays State University to cultivate the talent pool with money for scholarships and for the graphic design program.
This year was Tuan Huynh\u2019s third trip to his alma mater as part of the Leo Burnett entourage. He and two colleagues distributed a total $25,000. Huynh was offered a job as a junior art director with Burnett right after graduation with a Fort Hays State BFA in graphic design in 2014.
It feels great, he said, to come back and recognize talent with money.
\u201cIt feels fantastic,\u201d he said, adding that it is in keeping with the culture both of Leo Burnett and Fort Hays State.
\u201cIt\u2019s looking at the individual, and dealing with the individual, and looking at the person, looking at the human being and their talent,\u201d he said, \u201cand on the Fort Hays State side, Chaiwat and Karrie have always embodied that. It\u2019s about the person first and foremost and how they teach us, from ideas to projects. They care about us as individuals not just as students. In their classrooms, they care about us as persons.\u201d
That is Chaiwat Thumsujarit (pronounced chye-WHAT TUM-sue-jair-it), professor of art and design, and Karrie Simpson Voth, chair of the Department of Art and Design and graphic design professor.
The good feeling about what was happening was evident in the awards ceremony, which was far less ceremonial than it was like a pre-party for the celebration that followed at Gella\u2019s Diner.
Huynh (pronounced hwin<\/em>) and his Leo Burnett colleagues, Kerri Soukup, a 1997 FHSU grad, and Tracie Roberson, were obviously having a good time giving Leo Burnett money to FHSU students.
Announcing the top prize, the $10,000 Pencil Award, they joined together in a chorus for the winner\u2019s name: \u201crrr-ray-AAAY-von!\u201d for Rayvon Lewis, a Blue Springs, Mo., junior who gave up football to follow his dreams in art.
After the program, Huynh talked for a few minutes at table in a corner of the back meeting room at Gella\u2019s. The little room held around 40 people \u2013 students, the people from Leo Burnett, Simpson Voth and Thumsujarit, friends and other alumni of the FHSU graphic arts program come to help celebrate.
\u201cI think as a student, as a former student, you can only appreciate someone coming back and recognizing your talent because someone gave you the opportunity by recognizing your talent,\u201d he said.
In Huynh\u2019s memory, it is the people in the program, students and faculty, who stand out. Born in Vietnam, he grew up in Wichita and came to Fort Hays State at age 33 with an associate degree in liberal arts and humanities from Donnelly College in Kansas City. He had no art or design background, but he had raw talent.
\u201cMy professors, my classmates, they all accepted me, despite me not knowing a lot about graphic design going into the program,\u201d he said.
\u201cI was never shunned because of my ignorance of what graphic design is. They have taken me under their wing and been patient with me and taught me everything. My classmates embodied the same spirit. We helped each other.\u201d
Asked specifically what makes FHSU\u2019s graphic design program special, his answer came with no hesitation.
\u201cA hundred percent, it\u2019s the conceptual aspect of it,\u201d he said. \u201cI consider our design program a conceptual design program \u2013 not just a design program \u2013 a conceptual program, a conceptual design program, because we put so much into ideation of a project to conceptualize an idea before the work is created.\u201d
He illustrated what he meant with an example.
\u201cOne year I had an intern from here. I put her in every project I worked on. I challenged her as we were talking and concepting. I put her in big meetings, and I asked her, \u2018What do you think about that?\u2019 because I valued what she had to say, because she comes from good stock.\u201d
He repeated that for emphasis. \u201cShe comes from good stock. I\u2019d bring any of these kids\u201d \u2013 he indicated with a wave of his arm the students talking and laughing at the tables next to him \u2013 \u201cinto a Leo Burnett brainstorming session. I would. I would.\u201d
He continued, \u201cWhen I do portfolio reviews in Chicago, all the top universities I do portfolio reviews for \u2013 I do judging and I do all kinds of stuff \u2013 one of the things they lack is conceptual idea, and that was taught that here every day.\u201d
After about 15 minutes, he was ready to go join the students, to hear their stories share his own, but he summed up his work, the day, the money he and his colleagues had distributed, the party going on around him.
\u201cAll glory to God, man,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m so thankful for it. I\u2019m living the dream, brother. I\u2019m living the dream. I\u2019m living on grace.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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