Lac Hong University received a scholarship fund worth 1 billion VND from teacher Doan Van Dien three days ago. Scholarship funds for Nong Lam University TP HCM (2 billion VND) and Xuan Loc commune (1 billion VND), Dak Lak province, were established in late 2024 and early 2025, respectively.

"This represents my entire life's work," Mr. Dien shared. "Establishing the third scholarship fund brings me immense satisfaction, as I feel I have repaid my gratitude to everyone and to life itself."

Doan Van Dien and his wife presented the 1 billion VND scholarship fund to Lam Thanh Hien, Principal of Lac Hong University, on 5/5. Photo: LHU

Doan Van Dien and his wife presented the 1 billion VND scholarship fund to Lam Thanh Hien, Principal of Lac Hong University, on 5/5. Photo: LHU

Associate Professor Dr. Doan Van Dien, 90, worked for about 40 years at Nong Lam University TP HCM, serving as principal from 1989 to 1994. After retiring, he founded Lac Hong University and Viet Thanh Secondary-High School.

Mr. Dien stated that establishing the three scholarship funds had been a long-cherished wish for him and his wife. Nong Lam University TP HCM and Lac Hong University are the two places where he had the deepest and longest connections. Xuan Loc commune, on the other hand, is his hometown and family origin. At both universities, the funds bear the name Doan Van Dien, while the scholarship in Xuan Loc commune is named after martyr Doan Van Tuong, his elder brother.

The funds will be deposited in savings by the universities and local authorities. The annual interest will be used to award scholarships to disadvantaged students who demonstrate academic excellence and to recognize outstanding teachers and lecturers for their teaching and research achievements.

"My life has presented many difficult challenges, and students and colleagues have empowered me to overcome them and grow," said the first principal of Lac Hong University. "They are the benefactors I wish to repay."

Mr. Dien believes that everyone he has met in life has been a benefactor, each in their own way contributing to his self-improvement. For his students, he understood that to be worthy of leading a class, earning trust, and being loved, he had to continuously cultivate his professional competence, skills, and ethics.

Beyond the joy of fulfilling his long-held wish to establish the three scholarship funds, Mr. Dien expressed even greater happiness that his children and grandchildren supported his decision.

Le Nguyen