He was awarded the title of professor at the age of 30, the youngest director in the history of Vietnamese science!

The professor is an outstanding physicist, a typical figure with outstanding contributions to the innovation and development of Vietnam's revolutionary science.

From a boy passionate about Physics to a professor at the age of 30

Professor Nguyen Van Hieu (1938-2022) is a 'giant tree' of Vietnamese Physics, with many great contributions to the innovation and development of the country's science.

He was born into an intellectual family in Hanoi, and his childhood was spent wandering around because of the evacuation and war. Nguyen Van Hieu completed his 8-year high school program, but because his family was poor, he applied to work in a knitting factory. It was the time he spent working and learning the trade in the factory that gave him a love for physics.

Professor Nguyen Van Hieu in his youth.

After the liberation of Hanoi, he entered the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Science Education. Nguyen Van Hieu graduated with a bachelor's degree in Physics with honors at the age of 18, then became a lecturer at Hanoi University of Science (now Hanoi National University). At that time, Nguyen Van Hieu and Professor Nguyen Lan Dung were the two youngest lecturers at the school.

In 1960, he was sent to work at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, the former Soviet Union. Nguyen Van Hieu's efforts and enthusiasm for research made the professors at the Dubna Institute admire him and accept him as a student.

Professor Nguyen Van Hieu during his time working in the (former) Soviet Union.

In 2 and a half years, Nguyen Van Hieu has published 12 research works on neutrino physics, many of which have made a splash. His work "Theory of symmetry of elementary particles" has been published in book form and is used by many countries around the world.

He successfully defended his PhD thesis at the age of 26, the youngest PhD in Vietnam and the former Soviet Union at that time. In 1968, Nguyen Van Hieu became Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematical Physics at the Dubna Institute and Lomonosov University at the age of 30.

Monument of Vietnamese science

A year later, the Professor returned to Vietnam and was assigned by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong to establish the first Institute of Physics, holding the position of Institute Director. Professor Nguyen Van Hieu is the youngest Institute Director in the history of Vietnamese science.

In 1975, the Central Office of South Vietnam decided to establish the Southern Institute of Science and Technology under the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam and appointed Professor Nguyen Van Hieu as the Institute Director. In 1983, the Professor became the Director of the Vietnam Academy of Science.

In 1993, the Vietnam Academy of Science was renamed the National Center for Natural Sciences and Technology. Professor Nguyen Van Hieu was the director of the Center and concurrently the Director of the Institute of Materials Science.

Professor Nguyen Van Hieu is the youngest Institute Director in the history of Vietnamese science.

Throughout his career, Professor Nguyen Van Hieu has published more than 200 scientific works, spanning many fields, from weak interactions and symmetry of elementary particles, to analytical theory of strong interactions and field theory, and then quantum field theory methods in solid state physics. Most of these works have been published in prestigious international journals.

In the field of solid state theory research, Vietnamese and world scientists always consider Professor Nguyen Van Hieu as the eldest brother and leading expert.

"We must consider scientific research as our career! There is no glory without loss, sometimes we have to make sacrifices to achieve our passion. Particularly in the field of science, first of all, we need to pursue a very modern research direction and second, a research direction that the country really needs. Think about what the country needs and then do that," Professor Nguyen Van Hieu confided.

Besides research, he also made special contributions in organizing the mass planting of Artemisia vulgaris in the northern mountainous region, creating a source of raw materials for industrial-scale production of malaria medicine, serving people in remote areas and ethnic minorities.

He also made special contributions in organizing the mass planting of Artemisia vulgaris.

Professor Nguyen Van Hieu accepted a special invitation from the Director of VNU Hanoi in 1999 to take on the position of Head of the Faculty of Technology. He was the first Principal of the University of Technology - VNU Hanoi, established in 2004.

Having been attached to the university lecture hall for many years, Professor Nguyen Van Hieu always wished: 'How to teach my students: if I am an engineer in a factory, I must work really well, if I am a scientist, I must have many inventions, if I am a teacher, I must teach interesting lessons and impart a lot of knowledge to my students.'.

He was also one of the first people to lay the foundation for Vietnam's space science and technology through the intercosmos program. For his contributions to Physics, Professor Nguyen Van Hieu was awarded the Lenin Prize for Science and Technology (1986), the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology (1996), the First Class Independence Medal (2009).