Funding the Future

C. T. Bauer College of Business alumna Kim Pham (BBA '10) has officially established the Sharp Bloomer Pham Endowed Scholarship to help fund and mentor future student’s education.

Pham established the endowment to honor both her father and the Sharp and Bloomer families, who sponsored her family to come to America during the Vietnam War as refugees. The $25,000 endowment will be in place for five years. During that time, Pham will also serve as a mentor for each year’s recipient.

“As an endowed scholarship, I wanted to give a gift that keeps on giving to honor special people in my life,” she said. “First, my late father who had a great influence on my education. His greatest reward was seeing me walk the stage at graduation. Second, the Sharp and Bloomer families. I am forever grateful for their generosity and give this gift in honor of them.”

Pham comes from a long line of Cougars, as all three of her siblings graduated from the University of Houston. She also has a niece and nephew currently attending the university.

Not only did Pham graduate with a 4.0 GPA and Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student honors, but she is also the youngest member of the Bauer College “Millionaire’s Club,” an informal group of over 15 graduates who were at one point enrolled in Associate Professor Dale Rude’s Behavioral Finance course and have since achieved millionaire status.

The course is based around the book, “The Millionaire Next Door,” and played a big part in Pham’s mindset post-graduation. After reading the book, Pham was inspired to make a difference not only for her, but for her whole family.

“My mom made $3.50 an hour to make ends meet when she first came to America,” she said. “For me to receive a Tier One education at Bauer, achieve millionaire status and speak 10 years later in the course that shaped my future is something very meaningful for our family.”

During her time at Bauer, Pham was involved in student leadership and co-curricular activities, including positions as an officer in the Finance Association, a teaching assistant for the Business Law and Ethics course, a member of the Cougar Investment Research Team and a mentor to local high school students, all while having four total internships.

After graduation, Pham began her career at JPMorgan Chase in investment banking before transitioning to the education and non-profit sector. She then worked as a software engineer and product manager in Silicon Valley before making her return to Houston.

She currently works in the non-profit sector once again, advocating for mental health healing through art therapy, educating high school students about personal finance and supporting high school students as they build NASA-approved rockets.

“I really wanted to create this endowment scholarship to let people know that no matter your background, you can achieve great things,” she said. “I hope more students in the near future are able to join me in the Millionaire’s Club.”