You are always in everyone's heart!

The news that Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke had passed away after more than 10 days in the hospital shocked and saddened many teachers, colleagues, friends, and students of all generations of the Faculty of History. For nearly 2 weeks, friends, colleagues, and students took turns staying at the hospital, hoping to provide timely encouragement and strength for the Professor and his family. However, the bad developments came too quickly. The overwhelming love of everyone, the dedication of doctors and nurses, and the best medical advances could not help the Professor return to his family, friends, and colleagues.Coming to the Faculty of History - the second home and family of the Professor - at this time, it seems that the teachers and students of the Faculty still cannot believe the truth. The feeling of loss is so great! The sadness and pain seem impossible to put into words. The Faculty of History and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have lost a scientist with great intelligence, a dedicated manager; generations of students have lost a great teacher with a bright personality and attractive and unique lectures on Vietnamese history and culture; colleagues have lost a friend, a brother who was always sociable, simple and devoted to everyone; and society has lost a person who was always dedicated, enthusiastic and full of love to the end of this life.

"Teacher Ke passed away in the love of everyone"

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc (former Head of the History Department, former Director of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences, VNU) is still shocked: "We were still chatting in the morning, but in the afternoon, we heard that Ke was hospitalized. I rushed in right away... but we could not meet again. It was like a joke!" Knowing each other since childhood, then entering the History department at university, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc has many unforgettable feelings and memories during more than 45 years of friendship with Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke: “I always saw Ke as that kind of person: vibrant, dynamic and devoted to youth, that is very special. When he was in high school, he wrote poetry very early, one poem I remember was “Dat Cannon” which won an award. When he went to school, he tilted his bicycle, reading poetry while riding. Looking at his appearance, he looked a bit “old” but very youthful, very vibrant. From childhood until now, Ke has always been a humorous and enthusiastic person”. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke was born into a family with a father who was a talented and dedicated teacher, a mother who was also good at Chinese characters and poetry, so they soon oriented their children to the path of studying, taking exams, passing exams, and then teaching. Teacher Ke grew up in the land of Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem with the lullabies of flutes and clay firecrackers.

Professor Ngoc recalls: “When I entered the History Department, I admired him very much because he knew a lot. As soon as he entered the Department, without taking any classes, he was already fluent in history books, such as “Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu”, “Viet Su Thong Giam Cuong Muc”… Having a very good foundation, he was very good at studying, and was soon guided by good teachers, such as Mr. Phan Huy Le, Mr. Phan Dai Doan, Ms. Pham Thi Tam… It can be said that Mr. Ke matured very early, becoming a very young, capable, prestigious lecturer, loved by students. He was able to study continuously and especially had the precious opportunity to study abroad, working as a PhD and PhD in Russia”. Professor Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc shared that Mr. Ke had a passionate “youth blood”, he was active in the Youth Union very early, and was very talented in organizing and mobilizing Youth Union activities. Mr. Ke was the Secretary of the Youth Union of the Faculty of History, Secretary of the Youth Union of Hanoi University, was admitted to the Party early and also joined the Party Committee of Hanoi University very early. He also participated in the work of the City Youth Union, the Central Youth Union, combining research on youth history, the history of the Youth Union with his teaching work. “I have never seen anyone as enthusiastic and dedicated to the youth, to the activities of the youth, the movements of the youth and the development of the youth as Mr. Ke. It was in his blood or something. When he stopped working in the Youth Union to go to Russia to do PhD work, he was very sad, sometimes he cried” – Prof. Ngoc sadly said.

After Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke defended his doctoral thesis in Russia and returned to the Faculty of History, Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc was the Head of the Faculty. The Faculty of History has a very valuable "capital" which is the leading experts in the field, which are the legendary "four pillars" including Professors: Dinh Xuan Lam, Ha Van Tan, Tran Quoc Vuong, Phan Huy Le. The Faculty discussed and assigned each other to "follow closely" the "four pillars" to learn. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke was assigned to "follow closely" Professor Tran Quoc Vuong. The Department of Cultural History was established and Professor Tran Quoc Vuong became the Head of the Department. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke was appointed as Deputy Head of the Department to assist Professor Vuong. The greatest contributions of Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke are in the field of cultural history. His works and publications from the 90s onwards are on cultural history and cultural studies. In 2004, when Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc took charge of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences (VNU), Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke was appointed as Head of the History Department. Prof. Ngoc acknowledged: “Professor Ke is a person who is devoted to his work, once he accepts a job, he will do his best. Since becoming Head of the Department, Prof. Ke has organized the work of the Department very well. From 2004 to now, despite very difficult conditions, the Department has made very good progress in training, research, and organization and arrangement of people and work. The Department still maintains its position as a leading unit among training and research units on History in the country.”

The latest achievement and pride of the Faculty of History, in which Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke has made a great contribution, is the 4-volume "History of Vietnam". Previously, during the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke also participated in editing and co-writing many books, mainly books on culture and education. He also presided over a state-level scientific project on Education of Thang Long - Hanoi. In addition, Professor Ke has many valuable contributions such as the book "Vietnamese Village Culture" written about Duc Tu village - a very methodical and elaborate research book highly appreciated by people in the field. But above all, Professor. Nguyen Quang Ngoc said: “This is a man who devoted himself to everyone, and was loved by everyone in a rare way. Teacher Ke passed away in the utmost care and concern, in the love of everyone. That love came from the love that he had for everyone. That was the most “human” quality of him, the most special thing about him.”

“A teacher is always devoted to his work and to his students!”

In an emotional state, seemingly unable to calm down and recover from the sudden passing of his teacher, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Quan (Deputy Head of the History Department) choked up: "This is a great loss for the History Department, the History Department and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities". Sharing about his teacher, brother and colleague with whom he had worked for more than 30 years, Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Quan said: "If considered from the perspective of a scientist, our teacher Ke is a shining example of passion for science. His whole life he was immersed in the career of History, specializing in ancient and medieval times, and later expanded to the field of Cultural Studies and especially Vietnamese Cultural History. His passion and efforts, along with his innate intelligence, have combined to create a very rich and sharp body of knowledge about Vietnamese cultural history". Teacher Ke did not write much compared to other teachers of the same age, but his writings all left certain impressions. His writings were never superficial but always based on new and unique ideas, so his scientific products are often remembered. In terms of academics, his influence on generations of students, in the profession and in society, is very impressive.

The social influence of the Teacher is also very great. He does not appear on television with the cliche of a knowledge transmitter, but he often mentions very hot issues of history and culture. From the perspective of a teacher, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke is a teacher in the fullest sense: a person who provides knowledge, teaches students how to self-study, self-explore, research, self-dig, and self-create. From a very early age, especially after returning from the (former) Soviet Union, Teacher Ke applied a very new way of teaching. He did not talk much but knew how to stimulate students to raise their own problems, to use their brains in learning, not just copy his lectures. Teacher Ke never created a gap between teacher and student. He was very strict, even when angry he could shout, but certainly no student was afraid of Teacher Ke in the true sense of the word "fear", and no student was angry with the Teacher after being yelled at. Mr. Ke is one of the teachers with the most students and a very sincere teacher-student relationship. Regarding the role of leader of the Faculty of History, Mr. Ke has all the factors of capacity and professional prestige to become the leader of a leading faculty of training and research in basic sciences of the University, of the Social Sciences and Humanities as well as with society. When talking about the Faculty of History and Mr. Ke - Head of the Faculty, people will immediately recognize a faculty of training and research in History with the leading stature and prestige in the country. "He is like a nucleus of solidarity in the Faculty, this is a very precious tradition, very proud of the Faculty of History. The members of the Faculty live very harmoniously, the affection that Mr. Ke is the one who connects this tradition of solidarity of the Faculty" - Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Quan shared - "He is a person who always devotes himself to work, to everyone without knowing how to cultivate for himself, without knowing how to profit".

“Young staff and students of the Faculty have lost a great support”

MSc. Do Thi Huong Thao - a student of Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke since 1996 and a colleague of his at the Faculty of History since 2001 - was moved when mentioning the teacher whom she deeply respected and loved: "Only when he passed away did I realize that to me, he was very important, as a teacher, as a colleague, and perhaps even as a great friend. In everyone's heart, he was not only a profound person but also a person who always shone".

In the Faculty, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hai Ke is famous as a teacher who always inspires students to grasp ideas and look at Vietnamese culture - not as what they see, what happens on the surface, but to understand Vietnamese culture from tradition, to decode cultural issues in depth in order to understand culture, understand Vietnamese society and people. "After Mr. Vuong passed away, the Department of Cultural Studies lost an extremely great pillar, but there is another teacher for the next generation to rely on, that is Mr. Nguyen Hai Ke. But until now, generations of students have lost a support, a big tree for them to rely on both professionally and spiritually, in life" - MSc. Do Thi Huong Thao said. She said, the most wonderful thing about Mr. Ke is that he lives very affectionately. The most difficult students are the ones he loves the most. The teacher is probably the only leader who in the year-end report specifically counted how many young cadres do not have a house, are not married, and do not have enough salary to live on. The teacher shares with his cadres from the smallest stories, cares about whether their children are good or not, have gone to school yet. Not only the students but also the daughters-in-law and sons-in-law in the Department like the teacher, the children in the Faculty also like him. There are stories that students may find difficult to tell this or that teacher, but when meeting Mr. Ke, they do not need the teacher to ask but can still pour out. Living simply and harmoniously, being true to themselves and others is the common feeling of all those who have lived and worked with the teacher: "Even when the teacher appears on the media, he is still simple, rustic and still has the same confiding style. In the social sciences, great teachers play a very important role in the maturity of each student and the generation of students and young cadres always needs a great teacher like Mr. Nguyen Hai Ke".