Youngest new female professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan: Don't ask young people to starve and suffer to do science...

This year, the decision and awarding of certificates of meeting the standards for the title of professor and associate professor in 2015 to 522 teachers is special in that after 35 years, the Mathematics industry has a second female professor. That is Dr. Le Thi Thanh Nhan, 45 years old, Vice Principal of the University of Science, Thai Nguyen University. She is also the only person recognized as meeting the standards for the title of Professor of Mathematics this year among the 3 registered candidates.

Difficult childhood, often had to go hungry

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan (born in 1970) grew up in Thai Nguyen and is currently working at the University of Science, Thai Nguyen University. Her father was a soldier who was regrouped to the North, from Thua Thien-Hue, in the same village of Niem Pho as General Nguyen Chi Thanh. Her mother is a primary school teacher, from Duc Tho, Ha Tinh, in the same village of Tung Anh as General Secretary Tran Phu.

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan's childhood was a series of difficult days, often having to go hungry. Due to many years on the battlefield, her father suffered from malaria continuously and died early, but her father's optimistic and life-loving spirit gave her a strong vitality to be able to study and achieve remarkable successes like today.

Since high school, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan loved studying Mathematics, so when she finished high school, she took the entrance exam to the Mathematics Department of Viet Bac Pedagogical University. At that time, her mother had moved back to her father's hometown in Hue. During the 4 years of university during the subsidy period, living in the love and care of teachers and friends, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan rose to the top of her class, graduated with honors and was retained to teach at the school when she turned 20.

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan received her Master's degree from Hanoi National University of Education in 1995 and her PhD from the Institute of Mathematics in 2001. In 2005, she was recognized as Associate Professor at the age of 35, becoming the youngest Associate Professor.

In 2007, Ms. Thanh Nhan was awarded the Science Prize of the Institute of Mathematics for her research on Commutative Algebra. This is a prestigious science prize awarded every two years to no more than two outstanding Vietnamese mathematicians under the age of 40. In 2011, she received the Kovalevskaia Prize - a prestigious prize awarded annually to female scientists in the field of natural sciences.

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan (yellow ao dai) and friends.

With her passion and constant efforts in research, this year, Ms. Le Thi Thanh Nhan is extremely happy and honored to receive the title of Professor at the age of 45. This is an important milestone in her career, a great motivation for her to continue to strive and contribute.

For Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan, studying Mathematics means doing what she loves, developing her abilities and contributing better to the cause of science and education. Her success today started from that love. Her wish came true when she was fortunate to have Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Tu Cuong - an internationally renowned mathematician and a dedicated teacher who agreed to guide and follow her throughout her journey from a naive mountain student to becoming a real Professor of Mathematics like today.

Newly-appointed Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan is very proud to be a PhD student at the Institute of Mathematics - a highly prestigious doctoral training institution in Vietnam. Every time she returns to the Institute of Mathematics, she feels like she is returning home, the place she has been deeply attached to, and has given her her entire scientific career.

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan's success today is also due to the full support of her husband and children. They have always accompanied and shared the difficulties in life and work with her. In addition, her success is also due to the support and research funding received from the Formath Vietnam program, the Fourier Institute of Mathematics in France, the ICTP Center in Italy, the University of Zurich - Switzerland, the Japan-Vietnam Joint Seminar Program, etc.

In particular, during 15 years of diligently doing Mathematics, she never expected that one day, the National Foundation for Science and Technology Development - Nafosted was born. The Foundation has brought full hope to those who research basic sciences, including Mathematics.

With a good record of international publications, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan has been elected to the Mathematical Science Council of the Foundation for three consecutive terms from 2009 to present, witnessing the extremely practical and fair sponsorship of the Foundation. This is a great motivation for scientific researchers like her to feel secure in the path they have chosen.

Furthermore, the establishment of the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics and the National Key Program for the Development of Mathematics to 2020 have added material and spiritual strength and created an ideal research and learning environment for mathematicians and mathematics students nationwide, so that Vietnamese mathematics can have a real place in the world.

Don't ask young people to starve themselves to do science.

What Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan has achieved today is the result of her passion and tireless efforts over a long period of time. But life has many paths, she does not intend to use her model and that of previous generations as a "model" for all young people.

“Living in a time like mine and previous generations, we can go hungry, endure hardships and still be passionate about science and contribute, but don't ask today's young people to be like that” - the youngest female professor confided.

Fewer and fewer talented people choose a career in scientific research. Because this is a thorny path and it is very difficult to “get rich”, but there are still young people who are embarking on the path of scientific research, there are still people with many excellent works, people who have left behind preferential conditions abroad to return to serve the country in the context of a working environment that is still too difficult and lacking...

Speaking at the Ceremony to announce the decision and award the certificate of meeting the standards for the title of professor and associate professor (GS, PGS) in 2015, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan expressed: “The truth is that the salary of mathematicians at the Institute of Mathematics is only 3-4 million VND/month, the salary of professors is also only 8-9 million VND/month. How can we feel secure in doing scientific research like that? But I believe that if there are reasonable mechanisms and policies from the State and relevant agencies, with appropriate funding from organizations, ministries and branches, the way of thinking of young people will change, more and more excellent people will choose a scientific career and pursue the dream of becoming a true scientist.

Hopefully we will have more scientific councils with high professional quality, impartiality and fairness, and more support models such as the Nafosted Fund and the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics. Hopefully the State's policies will be timely and appropriate so that we can sustainably develop the team of Vietnamese researchers, whether at home or abroad."

In this recognition of titles, there were Professors and Associate Professors younger than her. Many were excellent, but the Organizing Committee chose her to speak. "Perhaps we wanted to encourage and give strength to a person who has been researching Mathematics for the past 20 years at Thai Nguyen University - a university in a region with many difficulties" - new Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan expressed.

Trained and matured from Thai Nguyen University. Therefore, the youngest female professor in 2015, Le Thi Thanh Nhan, wants to instill in her students the confidence to strive. She wants to affirm that people with a starting point like her can all reach success as if they were trained at major universities in the country and abroad./.

Newly-appointed Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan has more than 20 research works published in international journals such as Vietnam Journal of Math and Communication in Algebra - a specialized journal of the American Mathematical Society. She has been invited to conduct research by the French Institute of Mathematics, the Institute of Theoretical Physics of Italy and Switzerland.

In 2011, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan received the 26th Kovalevskaya Prize. At that time, she published 16 works in prestigious international mathematics journals ranked by ISI, including 13 works in SCI journals and 3 works in SCIE journals.

In particular, Professor Thanh Nhan has 5 works published in the Journal of Algebra - a prestigious international journal in the field of Algebra, including works that have been cited by many mathematicians around the world. She has also taught at many prestigious universities around the world.

According to VOV