The youngest female professor, Le Thi Thanh Nhan: Don't ask young people to starve or endure hardship to do science...

This year, the decision to award certificates of professorship and associate professorship to 522 educators in 2015 is particularly noteworthy because, after 35 years, the field of Mathematics has a second female professor. She is Dr. Le Thi Thanh Nhan, 45 years old, Vice Rector of the University of Science, Thai Nguyen University. She is also the only one of the three applicants to be recognized as a professor of Mathematics this year.

A difficult childhood, often having 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 relocated to the North, originally from Thua Thien-Hue, the same village of Niem Pho as General Nguyen Chi Thanh. Her mother was a primary school teacher, originally from Duc Tho, Ha Tinh, the same village of Tung Anh as General Secretary Tran Phu.

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan's childhood was filled with hardship and frequent hunger. Due to years spent on the battlefield, her father suffered from malaria and passed away prematurely. However, her father's optimistic and cheerful spirit instilled in her a powerful drive to study and achieve the remarkable success she has today.

From her high school years, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan loved studying mathematics, so after graduating, she applied to the Mathematics Department at Viet Bac Pedagogical University. At that time, her mother had moved back to her father's hometown in Hue. Throughout her four years of university during the subsidy period, surrounded by the love and support of her teachers and friends, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan excelled in her class, graduated with honors, and was retained to teach at the university when she turned 20.

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

In 2007, Thanh Nhan was awarded the Institute of Mathematics Science Prize 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 award given annually to female scientists in the field of natural sciences.

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

With her passion and tireless 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 and a great motivation for her to continue striving and contributing.

For Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan, researching mathematics means doing what she loves, developing her abilities, and making a better contribution to the scientific and educational fields. Her success today stems from that passion. Her dream came true when she was fortunate enough to have Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Tu Cuong – an internationally renowned mathematician and a dedicated teacher – agree to guide and support her throughout her journey from a naive student from the mountainous region to becoming a true professor of mathematics today.

Newly appointed Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan is very proud to be a doctoral 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's coming home, the place where she has a deep connection and where her entire scientific career has flourished.

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan's success today is also due to the unwavering support of her husband and children. They have always been by her side, sharing the difficulties in her life and work. Furthermore, her success is also thanks to the support and research funding she has received from the Formath Vietnam program, the Fourier Institute of Mathematics in France, the ICTP Center in Italy, the University of Zurich in Switzerland, the Japan-Vietnam Joint Seminar Program, and others.

In particular, during her 15 years of dedicated work in mathematics, she never imagined that one day the National Science and Technology Development Fund – Nafosted – would be established. The Fund has brought immense hope to those researching basic sciences, including mathematics.

With a strong record of international publications, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan has been elected to the Scientific Council of the Mathematics Department of the Foundation for three consecutive terms from 2009 to the present, witnessing the Foundation's extremely practical and fair support. This is a great motivation for researchers like her to feel secure in the path they have chosen.

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

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

Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan's achievements today are the result of her passion and tireless efforts over a long period. But life has many paths, and she has no intention of using her model and those of previous generations as a "template" for all young people.

"Living in the era of me and previous generations, we could endure hunger and hardship while still being passionate about science and making contributions, but don't expect young people today to be like that," the youngest female professor in the new generation confided.

Fewer and fewer talented people are choosing a career in scientific research. This is because it's a challenging path and very difficult to "get rich" from it. However, there are still young people embarking on this path of scientific research, some producing outstanding works, and others who have left lucrative opportunities abroad to return and serve their country in a context where the working environment is still very difficult and lacking in resources...

Speaking at the ceremony announcing the decision and awarding certificates for achieving the titles of Professor and Associate Professor in 2015, Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan expressed: “The truth is that the salaries of mathematicians at the Institute of Mathematics are only 3-4 million VND/month, and the salaries of professors are only 8-9 million VND/month. How can they focus on scientific research with such low salaries? But I believe that if there are reasonable mechanisms and policies from the State and relevant agencies, and adequate financial support from organizations, ministries, and sectors, the mindset of young people will change, and more and more outstanding individuals will choose a scientific career and pursue their dream of becoming a true scientist.”

"Hopefully, we will have more high-quality, impartial, and fair scientific councils, and more support models like the Nafosted Fund and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Mathematics. We hope that the government's policies will be timely and appropriate so that we can sustainably develop the team of Vietnamese researchers, both domestically and abroad."

"In this ceremony for the recognition of academic titles, there were professors and associate professors younger than her. Many of them were very outstanding, but the organizing committee chose her to speak. 'Perhaps they wanted to encourage and empower someone who has been researching mathematics for the past 20 years at Thai Nguyen University - a regional university still facing many difficulties,'" newly appointed Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan expressed.

Having been trained and educated at Thai Nguyen University, Le Thi Thanh Nhan, the youngest female professor in 2015, wants to instill confidence in her students to strive for success. She wants to affirm that those with similar backgrounds can achieve success, just as those trained at prestigious universities both domestically and internationally.

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

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

Notably, Professor Thanh Nhan has five publications in the Journal of Algebra – a prestigious international journal in the field of Algebra, including works that have been cited by many mathematicians worldwide. She has also taught at many renowned universities around the world.

According to VOV