Viet Nam: National Development and Globalization

Faculty and Staff

Duong Van Thanh, Ph.D., Academic Director
Duong Van Thanh earned her M.A. in Public Affairs and Ph.D. in Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  Through work at the Ministry of Education in Hanoi, Thanh developed alternative educational models for students in rural Viet Nam; led cross-cultural professional exchanges (both in Viet Nam and the US); and worked with high level officials on public policy development. Thanh also has considerable experience in Student Affairs in a cross-cultural setting, including from work conducted at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Thanh served as Academic Director & Senior Lecturer for SIT's Vietnam: Cultural & Natural Ecology in the Mekong Delta program from Spring 2005 to Fall 2007. She has been the Academic Director for the Vietnam: Culture and Development program, based in Ho Chi Minh City, since Spring 2008. Thanh also has served as the Representative of the World Learning Branch in Viet Nam since 2008. She has a strong network of colleagues and contacts throughout the country.

Tran Thi Nguyen Thuy, Program Assistant
Thuy obtained a B.A. in English from Can Tho University and has taught English at the RV Mekong English Teaching Center in Can Tho City as well as to primary and secondary school students.  As program assistant with SIT Study Abroad, Thuy supports the academic director in arranging and administering the program's many components including orientation, educational excursions, and general office management.

Hoang Thu Hien, Homestay Coordinator and Part-time Program Assistant　　　　　　
Hien arranges all aspects of the students' homestay experiences and also lends other programmatic support. She graduated from the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City, with a B.A. in banking and finance.

Key Resource Faculty for this Program

Duong Ngoc Dung, Ph.D.
Dr. Duong Ngoc Dung holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Boston University (2001) and an MBA from UBI, Brussels (2008).  He obtained a Master's degree in East Asian History from Harvard University (1995) after receiving a scholarship from the Harvard-Yenching Institute. He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Education (TESOL) from Canberra University in Australia and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Ho Chi Minh City.  Since 2008, Dr. Duong Ngoc Dung has been a professor of Business Management (UBI, Vietnam) and International Relations (USSH, Ho Chi Minh City).  From 2001-2007, he served as professor of Asian Religions and Oriental Studies (USSH, National University, Ho Chi Minh City).   He was also appointed Head of Department of East Asian Studies (2001-2004) and Head of Department of Indian Studies (2004-2007) by University of Ho Chi Minh City.

Douglas D. Jardine
Since Spring 2008, Douglas has been a lecturer in the Faculty of International Studies at Hanoi University, teaching environmental politics, development, and international cooperation; world economic geography; and introduction to regional (area) studies.  Previously, he taught at Troy University BBA Program/College of Economics and Vietnam National University; his teaching included science, technology, and social development; the creation of modern Asia; and issues in environmentalism and development.  Douglas holds a M.A. in the History of Science Technology Medicine and the Environment / World History from Rutgers University Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  He is also a professional photographer.

Nguyen Trong Hoài, Ph.D.
Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoài is Dean of the Faculty of Development Economics at the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City. He is also the co-instructor for the University of Economics' case studies for policy analysis course in the summer term, for the analytical methods course in the fall term, and for development finance in the spring term. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Colombo (Sri Lanka) (Dutch - Sri Lanka Program). He also holds a B.S. in National Economy Planning from the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Xuân Thành
Mr. Nguyen Xuân Thành is a lecturer of public policy as well as the Director of Public Policy programs at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP) in Ho Chi Minh City. In the fall semester, he teaches financial analysis and economic development; during the spring semester he teaches a course on the appraisal of development expenditures. His recent research focuses on the regulation and finance of infrastructure. Before joining FETP, Mr. Thanh spent six years at the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Economic Research as a research fellow in local economic development. He holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, an MSc in Economics and Finance from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Delhi, India.

Jonathan Pincus, Ph.D.
Dr. Pincus is Dean of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP), founded in 1994 as a partnership between the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  As Dean, Dr. Pincus has responsibility for academic affairs at the Fulbright School, where he also teaches macroeconomics and development policy. Prior to joining FETP, he served as Senior Country Economist for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Viet Nam, and, prior to that, taught development economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.  Dr. Pincus completed his undergraduate education at Oberlin College (Ohio) and holds a Master's degree and Ph.D. in economics from Cambridge University (UK). He has worked extensively in Southeast Asia including long assignments in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam with a range of agencies including the Food and Agricultural Organization, the International Labor Organization and the World Bank. He is the author of Class Power and Agrarian Change: Land and Labor in West Java (Macmillan 1996); and co-editor of Development Policy in the 21st Century (Routledge 2002) and Reinventing the World Bank (Cornell University Press)

Võ Tòng Xuân, Ph.D.
Dr. Võ Tòng Xuân is the former rector of An Giang University(AGU) and the former vice rector of Can Tho University. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation. He obtained a B.S. and M.S. in Agriculture from the University of Agriculture in the Philippines and his Ph.D. in Agriculture in Kyushu, Japan. He is known throughout southern Vietnam as "Dr. Rice" because of a popular television show that he ran that taught farmers different tactics for growing and cultivating rice. This was one of the reasons why Vietnam went from being a net importer of rice to one of the world's largest rice exporters.