The awardees are Nguyen Thanh Huyen, former deputy head of the International Relations Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, and Prof. Nguyen Huu Duc, Vice President of the Hanoi-based Vietnam National University (VNU).
Huyen started her career as a teacher of French at the Hanoi University of Technologies (HUT) in 1982. In 2004, as deputy head of the International Relations Department, she partnered with the French Embassy in tertiary education and French-language development for many years.
Meanwhile, Duc is a researcher of nanomaterial, an important cooperation field between Vietnam and France. In 1980, he graduated from the VNU’s Faculty of Physics and worked at the centre for low-temperature physics research in Hanoi. He also chaired a number of education collaboration programmes between Vietnam and France.
Initiated by Napoleon I in 1808, the Order of Academic Palms honours individuals who make significant contributions to enriching the cultural heritage values and developing art and science in France and beyond.
