Dear Faculty, Students, and Staff,
I am writing with the sad news that our dear colleague, Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing and husband to Associate Dean Tina Hall, Hoa Ngo died Sunday following an exhaustive and determined 18-month battle with leukemia.
Hoa came to Hamilton in 2013 after serving as managing editor of The Missouri Review and web editor for Unbridled Books. He specialized in creative writing and wrote primarily short stories, which were published in journals such as Stone Canoe, Thin Air Magazine, Six Sentences, Mud Luscious, and River Teeth. He also taught classes on the history of the novel and dystopian fiction. He advised the spoken word poetry club, taking students to the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in 2017 and 2018, and he arranged visiting writer events on campus and panels on editing literary journals. Hoa was the recipient of a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Fiction in 2021 and a National Endowment for the Humanities summer fellowship in 2005. He received his bachelor’s degree from Hendrix College, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. You can learn more about Hoa on this website.
One Hamilton colleague described Hoa as “a thoughtful and caring professor who takes seriously the desire … to create a student-centered classroom that revolves around discussion, collaboration, and exploration.” Another saw in Hoa a professor who taught students “not only how to be better writers but how to be better readers and critics.”
Many of his students commented on his ability to make them feel comfortable and eager to participate in class. As a quiet and reserved person himself, Hoa had a special knack for drawing these students out and giving them the confidence to share their writing with their classmates.
“His non-fiction workshop was one of my absolute favorite classes at Hamilton,” said one student, “not just because of the fun, expressive nature of writing personal narrative, but because the energy of the classroom was always warm, encouraging, and stimulating.”
“Professor Ngo was one of my favorite professors,” said another, “because he was attentive, thoughtful, and above all else, encouraging,” and “truly gave me confidence in my fiction writing abilities.”
Before he became ill, Hoa loved hiking the Colorado 14ers, was an avid practitioner of jiu jitsu, surfed whenever he could get to an ocean, and never missed a new Star Wars or superhero movie. I am deeply moved by the courage he demonstrated fighting his disease and the many treatments he endured to return to the things he held most dear, his loving and caring wife, Tina, and their son, Tycho. On behalf of the College, I extend Hamilton’s deepest sympathies to his family, colleagues in the Literature and Creative Writing Department and beyond, and the many students who connected with him in and out of the classroom.
Condolences will reach the family at thall@hamilton.edu. Please keep Tina and Tycho in your thoughts as they mourn Hoa’s death.
Ngoni
Posted July 29, 2025
