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Punnee Soonthornpoct

Biology Instructor

Born in Thailand to Cambodian parents, Soonthornpoct spent ten years in a boarding school before coming to the U.S. as an exchange student at Louisiana State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in plant pathology and worked for the Cambodian government. When war broke out, she volunteered for the army’s intelligence service. Weary from war, she returned to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree from Mississippi State University. She married, lived in Panama and had a daughter while her family endured the killing fields back home. Her mother became a refugee sent to Texas, but it took eight years before the two found each other. By then Soonthornpoct’s abusive marriage had ended and she was working as a research assistant at Texas A&M University. Once again, she set out to obtain an advanced degree – a Ph.D. from Mississippi State. Returning to Texas, she was homeless for a while and worked various jobs before being hired at Blinn College in 1999.

Available area: Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Madison and Robertson Counties

Updated: March 24, 2004