Before embarking on her academic career, Mai Thai was an outstanding MBA graduate from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (USA). She was a recipient of the Asian Development Bank - Government of Japan Fellowship, and the winner of the First Prize and Social Enterprise Award at 2003 Business Plan Competition hosted by the University of Hawai'i. During her time at the East West Center as a scholarship recipient, she served on the Education Council and received Distinguished Service Award for her exceptional commitment.

Upon obtaining her Ph.D. degree with distinction from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) in 2008, she joined Fairleigh Dickinson University as a Visiting Assistant Professor. She joined HEC Montréal (Canada) in June 2009 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor.

Her expertise is in the field of international business, entrepreneurship, and strategic management. Her current research interests are on how and why small and medium-sized enterprises internationalize, how immigrant entrepreneurs set up and manage their businesses, what factors lead to their success, and how they use ties to their native countries. Management issues that Canadian SMEs encounter when employing immigrants also enthuse her.

For the community, she together with her husband, Dr. Nguyen Pham, provides scholarships to help Vietnamese undergraduate students studying in Vietnam through their NguyenMai Scholarship Fund and also volunteers in social activities for charity purposes.