Nhan Duc “Duke” Phan ’26 wants to own his own company one day. Aware entrepreneurship is full of risks, Phan has spent the last four years equipping himself to mitigate those risks—while actively pursuing them.
The financial economics major came to Wabash College as a 17-year-old with what he called sparse English language skills and a dream. At last count he hadn’t seen his mother for more than a thousand days.
International students often spend every break on campus, at considerable expense to themselves. Phan has found a “campus mom” in Lilly Library’s Fulfillment and Front Desk Coordinator Jennifer Crum.
“I have three grown sons of my own,” Crum said. “It’s very easy for me to get attached to the students working for me. I think they can feel that mom energy from me. Especially when they’re international students, they’re so far away from home, they’re in a new a new place. I think I just put off the energy that I am a safe space for them to for them to land.”
Crum serves not only as Phan’s campus mom, but also as his supervisor at the Lilly Library. She has driven him to the airport, helped him brush up on his English vocabulary, and watched his personal growth over the three years she has known him.
“That first year when we were working together every day, we would trade words,” Crum said. “I would teach him an American phrase, and he would teach me something.
Associate Teaching Professor of Physics Gaylon Ross met Phan during his freshman tutorial.
“He came in motivated right off the bat,” Ross remembered. “He’s always looking forward to meeting people, wanting to learn stuff, asking good questions.”
Phan is a member of Phi Gamma Delta, ’shOUT, International Student Association, and Asian Culture Club. He spends a lot of time engaged in various campus jobs.
Phan currently works at the Lilly Library and the Stephenson Institute. In the past, he has worked as a podcast producer, a social media intern for the Ramsey Archives, and a teacher. He believes horizontal learning is important, so he has been pursuing a broad set of interests to discover what ignites his passion.
“His approach is perfect for this place,” Ross said. “When you’re talking about the liberal arts environment, you're going to delve deeply into your major, but take advantage of all that Wabash has to offer. And he has done that.”
Taking a broad approach doesn’t mean that Phan doesn’t put in the work, however.
“He listens and he takes constructive advice well and employs that to do better,” Ross said. “He has taken full advantage of Wabash.”
Director of Alumni and Affinity Group Engagement Ron Dostal ’92 agrees.
“I’m confident he’ll be successful in life,” Dostal said. “I hope he’ll stay engaged with the College as an alumnus; he has a lot to offer our next generation of students.”
Despite being accepted to Simon Business School, Phan found himself drawn to a riskier option.
“I have nothing to lose,” he said with a smile. “I decided to turn it down and move to San Francisco. I do not have a job lined up just yet, but because I am so determined to build my own company one day, I believe the Bay is where I want to begin my career.”
While Phan’s plans might make the Career Services staff nervous, Ross believes they will come to fruition.
“He meets people so easily and so readily,” Ross said. “He’ll say all the right things and get himself in the door. If he says he’s going to set his mind to do something, I believe he will do it.”
Phan believes in wringing all he can out of life.
“Life is short,” he said. “When opportunities pass by, they won’t come back. I want to go for the boldest option.
“I've been through a lot of things that I don't wish for, but because of those circumstances, I grow to become a stronger person.”
He grew up in a poor family in Vietnam. His mother, born during the Vietnam War, nearly didn’t survive her childhood. The lesson Phan took from that isn’t to be more cautious, but to be bolder.
“Life is short and nothing is ever certain,” Phan said. “I’d rather do things that are going to generate the biggest return. I’m a financial guy so I think most about return on investment.”