Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung - an exemplary teacher

Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung and his wife on his 80th birthday at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (April 27, 2016)

Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung is one of the generations that inherited and contributed to the creation of the tradition of the former Hanoi University of Science, the present-day University of Social Sciences and Humanities. These are teachers who have both high professional skills and ethics, and personalities that are loved and respected by generations of students.

Associate Professor Nguyen Quoc Hung was born in 1936 into a petty bourgeois intellectual family in Hanoi. After finishing primary school in Hanoi, he attended secondary school in Tan Trao - Tuyen Quang (1949-1951), then studied at the Social Education College of the Central Campus (Nanning, China).

Prof. Dr. Vu Duong Ninh and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung

After graduating from the Secondary Pedagogical College (high school), he was assigned to teach at the secondary school in Ninh Binh town. In mid-1957, he transferred to work at the Inter-zone III Education Zone. From 1958-1960, he transferred to work at the Son Tay Education Department.

In 1961, he was sent to study at Lenin Pedagogical University in Moscow, majoring in History. In 1964, according to the State's decision, he was one of the students studying social sciences in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe who returned to Vietnam, continued to study at the Faculty of History, Hanoi National University and was a student of the first class majoring in World History (1965-1966).

In 1966, after graduating, he was retained at the Faculty of History, Hanoi University of Science. He was assigned to teach Modern World History, and then taught topics on imperialism... to 4th year students majoring in World History.

Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung, his wife and Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Van Quan (Head of History Department) on his birthday celebration

With previous teaching experience, Associate Professor Nguyen Quoc Hung is very aware of the importance of preparing class content. In order to teach the assigned sections, he has invested his efforts in self-study to equip himself with more knowledge about related fields such as economics, finance, etc. of imperialism. Perhaps, the sense of self-study, self-reliance, and overcoming difficulties formed in the previous Central Campus environment has helped him form a high self-study ability.

By 1986, after the 6th National Party Congress, the Party's renovation policy and international integration policy required promoting in-depth research on international relations. Associate Professor Nguyen Quoc Hung, with his professional acumen, realized the need to introduce research and teaching on International Relations at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels to contribute to serving our country's international integration and multilateral diplomacy policy. He was interested in international organizations such as the United Nations, ASEAN... After Hanoi National University was established in 1993, he was assigned to be the head of the International Relations group in the General program.

Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung and Dr. Luu Tuan Anh (Head of Oriental Studies Department)

In 1993, he, along with Professor Phan Huy Le and Associate Professor Le Quang Thiem, joined the executive board to prepare for the establishment of the Faculty of Oriental Studies. After the Faculty of Oriental Studies was officially established in 1995, he moved to work at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, holding the position of Deputy Head of the Faculty and Head of the Department of Japanese Studies, contributing to the establishment of the fledgling Japanese Studies industry in Vietnam.

Since he was very young, Associate Professor Nguyen Quoc Hung has been involved in education and training. At the age of 19, he was entrusted with the task of being the Principal of Ninh Binh Town Secondary School. This shows that he not only has good professional and pedagogical skills but also management skills.

Since working at Hanoi National University, he has also been trusted to hold positions such as: Acting Head of the History Department (1983-1984), Deputy Head of the History Department (1983-1990), Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center (1990-1995), Deputy Head of the Oriental Department (1995-2000), Head of the Japanese Department (1995-2005). Regardless of his position, in addition to his professional work, he also invested in basic professional orientation and training of the next generation. He always required the next generations to continuously read and study, turn the training process into self-training, update lecture content, research and he himself always set an example for the younger generations to follow. A prominent feature in his working principles is that it requires a very high level of caution. Moreover, he always pays attention to solidarity in the department and fosters the personality of the young generation: hard-working and honest.

In addition to his management work, he also spent time publishing many works that laid the foundation for research on modern world history, history of international relations, history of the Soviet Union (Russia) and history of Japan. Typical textbooks include Modern World History (1984, 1998), October Revolution and National Liberation Movement (1987), United Nations (1992), International Relations in the 20th Century (2000), Brief History of the Russian Federation 1917 - 1991 (co-authored), Ho Chi Minh - International Soldier (2005), International Relations - Theoretical Aspects and Issues (co-authored) (2006), History of Japan (2007), United Nations and United Nations Peacekeeping Forces (co-authored with Nguyen Hoang Quan, 2008)... He participated in compiling history textbooks (world history section) for high school students such as History textbooks for grade 9, History textbooks for grade 12... In addition, he participated in compiling the Vietnamese Encyclopedia (4 volumes).

Associate Professor Nguyen Quoc Hung was also the one who discovered, collected and translated Nguyen Ai Quoc's speech at the Third Congress of the Red International Trade Union (1924) and included it in Ho Chi Minh Complete Works. He was the first person to translate and introduce important documents on international relations such as the Declaration of the Three Great Powers at the Teheran Conference in 1943, the Agreement of the Three Great Powers on Far Eastern issues at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Document on the Military Surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, and the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights (1948).

With all his contributions to the education and training career, he was awarded the title of Associate Professor by the State in 1991, the title of Excellent Teacher in 1997, and People's Teacher in 2008.

* Some beautiful pictures of Associate Professor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quoc Hung when he was alive with friends, colleagues and students: