Fulbright University Vietnam, Vietnam’s first private, nonprofit university, announced a reorganization of its governing board. Effective immediately, the university will be overseen by a unitary board of directors, composed of the board of directors of the Trust for University Innovation in Vietnam (TUIV), and members of Fulbright’s Board of Trustees.
The new governing board replaces the university’s original two-board structure. Previously, the boards of TUIV, Fulbright’s US-based fiduciary organization, and Fulbright University Vietnam, shared oversight responsibility for the university.
Mr. Thomas J. Vallely, chairman of TUIV, will serve as chairman of the new unitary board.
“We take our responsibility and commitments to the Vietnamese public and our stakeholders, including the US and Vietnamese governments, extremely seriously,” Vallely said. He continued: “I am confident that our new, streamlined governing structure will enhance our ability to ensure that Fulbright University Vietnam is guided by a shared strategic vision and that it possesses the resources essential to thrive and grow.
As Fulbright University Vietnam enters an exciting new phase, my board colleagues and I look forward to working closely with the university’s leadership and wonderfully talented students and faculty to create a boldly innovative 21st century university for Vietnam.”
“The progress we have realized toward realizing our creating a Vietnamese university like no other is due in significant measure to the leadership provided by our Vietnam-based board members including Tran Trong Kien, Henry Nguyen, Le Hoai Nam, and Chris Malone. The recent election of Ms. Hoang Thi Mai Huong will strengthen this outstanding team even more. I am excited to work with them in the time to come,” Vallely said.
Board member Tran Trong Kien said: “I believe Fulbright’s new board structure will serve us very well. I am eager to continue working with Tom Vallely and our fellow board members, as well as with Fulbright President Dam Bich Thuy, to create a university unlike any other in Vietnam, that can support Vietnam’s continued development far into the future.”
The university also announced that Dr. H. Kim Bottomly, who served as chairman of the Fulbright University Vietnam Board of Trustees since January 2018, had stepped down.
“On behalf of the entire Fulbright University Vietnam community, I want to convey profound gratitude to Kim for her dedicated service to Fulbright University Vietnam,” university President Dam Bich Thuy said. “We benefited tremendously from Kim’s experience, wisdom, and judgement. Kim’s work at Fulbright has been instrumental to our ability to set up Fulbright University. I hope she will continue to involve in the development of Fulbright university as we move forward.”
On Thursday, June 6, the university will hold a ground-breaking ceremony on the site of its future campus in the Saigon High-Tech Park in District 9.
“The ground-breaking ceremony marks another important milestone in Fulbright’s journey from ambitious dream to dynamic reality,” Vallely said.
Added Tran Trong Kien: “Fulbright’s permanent campus will be symbolic of our commitment to serving Vietnam through teaching and research activities of the highest quality.”
ABOUT FULBRIGHT UNIVERSITY VIETNAM
Fulbright University Vietnam, a new Vietnamese university with Vietnamese and American origins, serves Vietnamese and global society through teaching, research, and impactful engagement with the world. Fulbright develops highly educated, globally connected citizens prepared and inspired to engage with the challenges and opportunities facing Vietnam and the world. Established in 2016, Fulbright’s two flagship academic programs are a graduate public policy program and an undergraduate program in engineering and the liberal arts and sciences.
ABOUT TUIV
TUIV is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation based on the campus of the Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston Area. TUIV is the sole-member of Fulbright University Vietnam. TUIV stewards Fulbright’s funding from the State Departments’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. TUIV’s board of directors is oversees the university, providing strategic direction and leadership.
