Fountain Valley resident Tam Nguyen is the new chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority.
Nguyen was unanimously selected as chairman during the OCTA’s first board meeting of 2024.
With an annual budget of $1.7 billion, OCTA is responsible for planning, funding and delivering public transportation improvements for Orange County.
Nguyen has served as one of two public members on the OCTA Board, and he has served in that capacity since April 2021. Nguyen has been a member of OCTA’s Diverse Community Leaders Group since its creation more than a decade ago. He served as vice chair of the OCTA board last year.
“Since being appointed to serve as a public member on the OCTA Board in 2021, I have witnessed firsthand how much this agency is making a difference in helping to enhance travel options for residents, businesses and visitors,” Nguyen said. “I am grateful for the tremendous amount of trust of my fellow board members in selecting me as their chair, and I look forward to working with them as stewards of the public’s funds to continue innovating and delivering a balanced, equitable and sustainable transportation system for Orange County’s diverse communities.”
Nguyen is coowner of Advance Beauty College, a second-generation, family-owned business that was founded in 1987. More than 50,000 students have graduated from the college, and many have become successful entrepreneurs, beauty manufacturers and salon owners across the country.
Nguyen was 1 year old when he and his family arrived in California in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. He and his wife, Christine, are raising their three children in Fountain Valley.
The OCTA Board is comprised of 18 members, including the five county supervisors, two members from city councils in each of the five supervisorial districts, two public members and the Caltrans District Director serves in a non-voting, ex-officio capacity.