644 people were certified to meet the standards of professor and associate professor titles.

The ceremony to announce the decision and award certificates of meeting the standards for the title of professor and associate professor in 2014 took place solemnly on the morning of February 4, at the Temple of Literature, Hanoi. The ceremony was attended by Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan presents a certificate of professorship to the Rector of Vinh University - Dinh Xuan Khoa - Photo: KTĐT

According to Professor Tran Van Nhung, Secretary General of the State Council of Professors, in 2014, 822 candidates submitted applications to meet the standards for the titles of professor and associate professor at 89 basic councils of professors, including 92 professor candidates and 730 associate professor candidates.

The State Council of Professors has reviewed and decided to recognize 59 teachers who met the standards for the title of professor and 585 teachers who met the standards for the title of associate professor in 2014, a total of 644 people.

According to Professor Tran Van Nhung, this year's awarding of the titles of professor and associate professor has many interesting things.

First of all, we must mention the widest range of professors in history, as both the youngest and oldest professors this time are also the youngest and oldest professors in the past 38 years, since 1976. This year's young professor is Phan Thanh Son Nam, 37 years old, majoring in Chemistry, lecturer at the University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University. The oldest is Professor Le Ngoc Canh, 81 years old, majoring in art, formerly a lecturer at the Central University of Art Education.

Previously, there were also two people who were awarded the title of professor at the age of 37 (but in terms of months, a few months older than Professor Son Nam), that is, Professor of Mathematics Nguyen Quang Dieu, in 2011, and Professor of Earth Sciences Hoang Ngoc Ha, in 1996.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan presented a certificate and Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan presented flowers to the youngest professor Phan Thanh Son Nam. Photo: VNA

Currently, the whole country has about 30 to 40 families where both father and son are professors.

The youngest associate professor title this year was awarded to two people, both born in 1981: Associate Professor Tu Trung Kien, majoring in Animal Husbandry, University of Agriculture and Forestry, Thai Nguyen University, and Associate Professor Hoang Quy Tinh, majoring in Biology, Hanoi National University of Education.

The oldest associate professor is teacher Vu Tu Lan, 81 years old, majoring in art, former lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical University.

The record for the youngest associate professor is currently at 29 years old, which is Dr. Pham Hoang Hiep of Mathematics, Hanoi National University of Education, batch 2011 and Dr. Nguyen Khanh Dieu Hong of Chemistry, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, batch 2012.

Although the age of associate professors and professors is getting younger, according to Professor Tran Van Nhung, this age group is still not as young as in developed countries.

Another special thing is that there is a couple born in 1962, studying abroad in 1983 in the Russian Federation, majoring in Psychology, working at the Institute of Psychology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, and both were recognized as meeting the standards for the title of Associate Professor in Psychology this time. They are Dr. Do Ngoc Khanh and Dr. Le Van Hao.

Although the ceremony to award the decision and certificate of meeting the standards for the title of professor and associate professor today took place in the drizzly and cold weather typical of the Northern winter, people still continuously flocked to the Temple of Literature to congratulate the teachers on their continuous efforts.

Being recognized as meeting the standards for the title of associate professor in medicine this time, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, University of Dentistry, emotionally shared: "This is both a great honor and a motivation for us to strive further in our careers and contribute more to education, training, scientific research and to the country."

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, from 1976 to the end of 2014, after 38 years, the total number of professors and associate professors recognized in our country was 11,097 people, including 1,628 professors and 9,469 associate professors.

According to Vietnam+