Bui Simon

After winning the 1988 Miss Universe Pageant, Thailand’s Bui Simon began a career that would involve her in a number of fields. For a period, she served as the country’s Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations; a member of the Thai Tourism Authority; and a spokesperson for Colgate, Revlon, and Pepsi. Additionally, the producers of 60 Minutes II/Thailand selected her to anchor the local spin-off of the CBS franchise. In educational matters, Bui Simon returned to the United States to continue her undergraduate studies at Pepperdine University. She remains connected to this institution by sitting on its Board of Regents and establishing the Bui Simon Thai Endowed Scholarship Fund, which allows undergraduates in Thailand to study abroad at the Malibu, California, institution. Children serve as a major focus of Bui Simon’s charitable endeavors. Since her time as a Goodwill Ambassador, Simon has advocated on behalf of the rights of young people. The arrangement of a 10-city concert tour in 1995 represents just one of the initiatives she created to increase opportunities for kids to obtain housing, schools, and nourishment. Still diligently active with her nearly decade-old organization Angels Wings Foundation International, Bui Simon studies the conditions of children throughout the nation, offering suggestions on achievable short- and long-term goals to help them better their lives. After the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, Simon’s California-based organization assisted citizens of that country by creating a fleet of boats, 100 houses, and new schools. A devoted wife and mother, Bui Simon married Indiana Pacers owner Herbert Simon in 2002. Along with a son and daughter, the couple also cares for three adopted children.