A teacher dedicated to Psychology

Going through the time of war

Professor Nguyen Huu Thu is a descendant of one of the famous scholar families of Hanoi (with 6 doctoral steles preserved at the Temple of Literature and 2 doctoral steles in the ancient capital of Hue - Nguyen Thuc's family) and had the honor of growing up in a land rich in revolutionary tradition, Van Ha commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi. In May 1970, when he was only 17 years old, the young man Nguyen Huu Thu followed the sacred call of the Fatherland and joined the army to fight to protect the country when he had not yet graduated from high school. As an infantry soldier after 3 months of training, a new recruit, Nguyen Huu Thu was assigned to Unit C16, Regiment 8, Division 324, the main force of Thua Thien - Hue. In the fight to liberate the South and unify the country of our people, the place name Thua Thien - Hue was one of the fiercest battlefields. Because this is the border gate, an important traffic artery from the Northern rear providing manpower, weapons and food for the entire Southern battlefield, it is also the place where the US and puppet regime concentrated many elite forces, many artillery pieces, many types of bombers regularly bombing, dropping dioxin chemical poison to destroy life, cut off the lifeline and destroy the vitality of our troops.

It was the harsh experiences of the battlefield that forged and helped soldier Nguyen Huu Thu understand the suffering, sacrifice, and happiness of every Vietnamese person, making his love for his homeland even stronger. A question that always troubled the young soldier was: What can be done to ensure that the Vietnamese people have an independent and happy life? In June 1975, when the South was completely liberated and the country unified, Nguyen Huu Thu was discharged from the army and returned to his hometown to continue his unfinished studies. With extraordinary determination and willpower, the young soldier chose to continue his education. After three months of studying, Nguyen Huu Thu passed the university entrance exam with high scores and was called back to Thanh Xuan University of Foreign Languages ​​(Russian language department) to study in the Soviet Union. By chance, the Vietnamese student came to study Psychology from 1976 to 1982, at Rostov-on-Don University - Soviet Union.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Thu/Photo: Thanh Long

For Professor Nguyen Huu Thu, pursuing Psychology is a constant effort and passion. Graduating from university in 1982 with achievements in teaching and scientific research, he was sent by the state to take the doctoral exam in 1988 and passed with high scores and continued to be sent to study at Leningrad State University, Soviet Union. Here, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis in Psychology. From 1982, when he was working at the School of Management Staff of the Ministry of Universities and Vocational Secondary Schools until he transferred to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (in 1997), with great contributions in the field of training, scientific research and application of Psychology to life, in 2005 he was awarded the title of Associate Professor. Continuing to promote his achievements in training and scientific research activities, in 2015, he was awarded the noble title of Professor.

Stick with Psychology

As a dedicated professional, Professor Nguyen Huu Thu always emphasized using his accumulated knowledge and skills in his teaching to impart them to undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students specializing in psychology. With his keen insight, he recognized that psychology courses in Vietnam were heavily theoretical and lacked practical application to meet real-world needs. Therefore, he believed that the curriculum at the Psychology Department of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities needed to be reformed to better meet practical demands and provide students with more job opportunities after graduation. During his term from 2006 to 2011, with the high trust of the faculty, Professor Nguyen Huu Thu was elected head of the Psychology Department, a favorable opportunity for him to...tProfessor Nguyen Huu Thu has implemented his innovative ideas. He proposed that the school establish two more departments under the faculty with high applicability: Management - Business Psychology and Counseling Psychology. Currently, according to the training program, 4th year students of the faculty are selected according to four majors:Social Psychology, Business-Management Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology. This has helped students have the opportunity to form and practice professional skills and problem-solving skills in practice. Thanks to this "innovation", the employment opportunities of students after completing the training programs of the Faculty of Psychology have increased significantly.

Currently the Director of the Center for Psychological Support and Counseling of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Professor Nguyen Huu Thu sets the goal: (1) Training support; (2) Applying psychology to life and (3) Researching psychological and social psychological issues arising in the process of industrialization and modernization of the country.Under his leadership, the center has become one of the internship and practice facilities for students of the Psychology department. In addition, the center also organizes consultations for other social groups (children, adults) on issues such as: autistic children, mentally retarded children, marriage and family issues, career counseling and psychological support in studying for VNU students... The center has coordinated with businesses to research and solve psychological problems in business management such as: recruitment; soft skills training; building corporate culture and building business strategies. Professor Nguyen Huu Thu has directed the center to conduct scientific research projects in the direction of applying psychology into practice to enhance the role, position and prestige of Psychology in society.

And the results achieved

Professor Nguyen Huu Thu is always humble in learning, improving his foreign language skills, professional qualifications, and improving teaching methods to develop skills and creative thinking for students. Although he is old, he is still in charge of 5 subjects in the bachelor training program (Management psychology, Business administration psychology, Communication psychology, Tourism psychology, Advertising and public relations psychology); and 2 subjects in the postgraduate training program of the Faculty of Psychology (Psychological approaches in human resource management, Economic psychology).During his teaching career, he has guided over 30 students to successfully defend their graduation theses. In particular, he has guided 10 PhD students, of whom 7 successfully defended their PhD theses; and 26 graduate students, of whom 22 have so far successfully defended their Master's theses.

In addition to his teaching duties, Professor Nguyen Huu Thu also made significant contributions to scientific research and the development of the faculty's learning resources. In the relatively short period from 2000 to 2015, he successfully completed dozens of research and translation projects (from English and Russian), effectively serving the faculty's training activities, as well as collaborative training programs with foreign countries (especially with several French universities).

Not only is he passionate about psychology, Professor Nguyen Huu Thu is also a profound teacher in life, interested in guiding generations of students and young colleagues. He is a great example for generations of students and young staff in the Department of Psychology to follow and learn from. For us, Professor Nguyen Huu Thu is always a role model in cultivating, improving professional qualifications, training the capacity and qualities of a teacher; being active and proactive in training and scientific research activities with the desire to contribute more to the cause of training high-quality human resources for the country, solving well the psychological problems arising from practice; being active in domestic and foreign affairs, contributing to enhancing the position and role of psychology in society and gradually integrating Vietnamese psychology with the psychology of countries in the region and internationally.