Odon Vallet Scholarship - giving wings to dreams

(Baonghean) - 144 excellent students of the 2015-2016 school year in Nghe An were honored to receive the 15th Odon Vallet scholarship in an event held on August 26 at Vinh University; each scholarship for students is 8.5 million VND; for young students and researchers is 14 million VND. Thus, the total amount of Odon Vallet scholarships for excellent students in Nghe An this year is about 1.4 billion VND...

Heart for Vietnamese talent

With a doctorate in law and religion, Professor Odon Vallet has taught at Sciences Po Paris, the University of Paris I Panthéon - Sorbonne and the University of Paris VII Diderot. He teaches cultural studies on contemporary political and social issues. He is also an expert on Asian, Far Eastern (especially Vietnamese) and African cultures. Odon Vallet is the son of Jean Vallet, former head of the GPA-Athéna Insurance Company. Having inherited a large fortune from his late father, and finding that the income from teaching and writing was enough to cover his own needs, Odon Vallet and his brother decided to establish the Vallet Foundation (Fondation Vallet) in 1999 and donated a large part of their inheritance to this organization.

Professor Odon Vallet speaks at the scholarship award ceremony on August 26 at Vinh University.

Managed by the Fondation de France, the Vallet Foundation awards scholarships to outstanding students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Paris, Benin and Vietnam so that they can continue their studies. The reason for deciding to dedicate his inheritance to education, Professor Odon Vallet once said: “I have enough money to live on. So, in memory of my late father, I decided to donate my inheritance to a field that I understand well: education. In fact, before becoming rich through the insurance company, my father had many difficulties pursuing his studies. So I want to use this inheritance to help young students in similar situations. I made this decision because I am a teacher.”

Professor Odon Vallet and Professor - Dr. Dinh Xuan Khoa awarded certificates and scholarships to excellent students.

Wings of Dreams

Speaking at this year's scholarship awarding ceremony, Professor - Doctor Dinh Xuan Khoa - Rector of Vinh University emphasized: "Despite being very busy and health conditions not allowing, for 15 consecutive years, Professor Odon Vallet has not hesitated to travel far, personally traveling across Vietnam to directly hand out valuable scholarships to students and young researchers, encouraging them to continue studying to become scientists. It can be said that the Vallet scholarship has a very profound social and humanistic meaning. It is a noble gesture, demonstrating the heart, solidarity, friendship and deep affection for the homeland of Vietnam of Professor Odon Vallet, Professor Tran Thanh Van and colleagues. The Vallet scholarship not only contributes to reducing the difficulties that students encounter in life, but also encourages and motivates them for their achievements in studying, creating conditions for them to continue on the path of conquering knowledge and establishing body, start a career later".

Comrade Dinh Thi Le Thanh - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee presented flowers to thank Professor Odon Vallet for his affection for Nghe An students.

Among the students who have received scholarships over the past 13 years, many have been admitted to prestigious schools around the world such as the Polytechnic University of Paris, famous universities in the US, UK, Germany... Many have achieved high scores, bringing glory to Vietnamese youth such as the World Physics Gold Medal, World Mathematics Silver Medal... At Vinh University alone, nearly 18 former students who received Vallet scholarships in the early years have now successfully defended their doctoral theses at home and abroad. Some have become promising young researchers; some have been appointed to important positions in the school...

Teacher Nguyen Thi Yen - Thanh Chuong 1 High School said that every year the school has about 10 students honored to receive this scholarship. For 10th grade students, the school chooses the valedictorians, for 11th and 12th grade students, the results of the provincial excellent student exam are considered as criteria. A typical example is Nguyen Thi Hang, a 12B grade student, graduated in 2013, for 3 consecutive years received the Odon Vallet scholarship. Especially outstanding, in 12th grade, she won the first prize in the province in Mathematics, the second prize in the province in Chemistry, the third prize in the province in Physics and is currently a student at Hanoi Medical University. Ms. Yen said that the Odon Vallet scholarship has really encouraged many students to strive in their studies, helping many students with difficult family circumstances to excel in their studies.

Professor Odon Vallet and representatives of the Provincial Association for Promotion of Education awarded scholarships to outstanding students.

Sharing his feelings at this year's scholarship award ceremony in Nghe An, Professor Odon Vallet hoped that the students who received the scholarship would send their thanks to their parents and teachers - those who directly cared for and taught them to have the life they have today and achieve good results in their studies. Also at this year's scholarship award ceremony, Professor Odon Vallet affirmed that he would expand the scholarship recipients beyond excellent students in natural sciences as in previous years. Starting from 2016, the Odon Vallet scholarship will also be awarded to excellent students in English, French and Geography.

With a big heart always devoted to young people in difficult circumstances pursuing their studies, Vallet's scholarships are also awarded to many excellent Vietnamese students studying at some major schools in France, with each scholarship worth about 4,000 euros. The Journal once considered Odon Vallet as one of the most generous French people and worthy of being awarded the "Altruism Badge". And this respected professor was also awarded the charity badge (Grand Prix) thanks to the humanitarian activities of the Vallet organization./.

An Nhan