About Me
Instructional Assistant Professor at Chapman University
Dr. Jean-Louis Bru
Born in France, I moved to California in 2009. After finishing high school, I started at Golden West College and transferred to the University of California, Irvine to obtain my bachelor’s degree in molecular biology & biochemistry. As a PhD graduate at UC Irvine, I did research on the bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Now, I am an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University.
My educational journey
I started my undergraduate journey at a community college, Golden West College, before transferring to the University of California, Irvine to obtain my bachelor’s degree in molecular biology & biochemistry in 2017. Immediately after my B.S., I continued graduate studies at UC Irvine, researching how the bacterial species Pseudomonas aeruginosa behave in the lungs. My Ph.D. in Microbiology was awarded in December 2022.
My passion for teaching
I’m genuinely in love with teaching: being a professor is not just a career but a commitment to make the world a better place and encourage my students to achieve their goals. That’s the core of who I am. I always ask my students to challenge themselves, and I give them all the tools necessary to be successful. The work I do in the classroom gives structure and understanding to what happens in the field, and I am constantly drawing parallels between the two.
My community outreach
My goal with the Vietnamese community is to encourage young individuals to pursue higher education in STEM. The Southeast Asian ethnicity is often measured alongside with the East Asians. This is an issue as the Southeast Asians lag in education and career opportunities compared to the rest of Asians. STEM identity in science is essential to promote Vietnamese students to continue their higher education. Diversity starts with me, as a Vietnamese faculty member, showing that Vietnamese individuals do belong in academia.
