Dr. Le Viet Quoc and Mr. Ben Wilkinson bring experience and personal backgrounds that aid their passion in helping found Vietnam’s first undergraduate liberal arts university.
Fulbright University Vietnam announced the expansion of its Board of Trustee with the addition of Dr. Quoc Le (Le Viet Quoc) and Mr. Ben Wilkinson.
As a boy growing up in rural Central Vietnam, Quoc Le (Le Viet Quoc) was fascinated by machines, inventors, and mathematics. These passions shaped his subsequent interest in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Today he is a scientist at Google, where he is one of the leading artificial intelligence researchers at the Google Brain project.
In 2014, Quoc was recognized by the MIT Technology Review as one of the top innovators in the world under age 35. Quoc’s work has won multiple awards at international conferences on machine learning and artificial intelligence and has been profiled in the New York Times Magazine.
Quoc obtained his PhD in Computer Science at Stanford University and a Bachelor of Software Engineering (First Class Honors) at the Australian National University, where he was a Distinguished Scholar. He is a proud graduate of Quoc Hoc Hue High School in Hue.
“I have eagerly followed the Fulbright project for several years, and I am thrilled to join the Board,” Dr. Le said.
“I look forward to working with the Fulbright team to create an innovative, world-class university that can help future generations of Vietnamese young people unleash their full potential. I have been fortunate to study at great universities. I am excited to help build a great university for Vietnam.”
Ben Wilkinson’s connection to Vietnam also stretches back his childhood, when a middle school teacher who was a veteran first sparked his interest in Vietnamese history and culture. Today he is the executive director of the Trust for University Innovation Vietnam (TUIV), a Boston-based nonprofit organization that is supporting Fulbright’s development.
Prior to joining TUIV, Ben worked for many years at the Vietnam Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. For a decade, he served as the Vietnam Program’s representative to the Fulbright Economic Teaching Program (FETP) in Ho Chi Minh City.
Ben supported the efforts of FETP’s faculty to launch Vietnam’s first masters in public policy program, as well as innovative policy analysis and dialog initiative. Ben helped convene the initial conversations with stakeholders and supporters in Vietnam and the US out of which the Fulbright concept emerged. Ben holds a degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard College.
“It is an honor and a privilege to join Fulbright’s board of trustees as a representative of TUIV,” said Ben.
“I look forward to working with my fellow trustees and the amazing team that President Thuy is assembling to create a transformative academic institution.”
Ms. Dam Bich Thuy, Fulbright’s founding president, said “I am delighted that Quoc and Ben has agreed to join the board of trustees. Quoc embodies the spirit of innovation and creativity that I hope will be defining features of Fulbright University Vietnam’s approach to teaching, research, and problem-solving. Ben’s great wealth of Vietnam experience and his lifelong devotion to our nation will be invaluable asset for the university.”
