Who is the first female professor of Mathematics in Vietnam?

The person mentioned is professor, doctor of science, people's teacher Hoang Xuan Sinh.

Professor Hoang Xuan Sinh was born on September 5, 1933, in Cot village, Tu Liem (now Yen Hoa ward, Cau Giay, Hanoi). Born during a time when the country was still at war and facing many difficulties, Ms. Sinh had a mindset that transcended her time.

In 1951, after graduating with a Baccalaureate degree from Chu Van An High School (Hanoi), majoring in Biology, English and French, her uncle took her to France to continue her high school education, then to university, majoring in Mathematics.

"The reason I chose the Mathematics department, which is not my forte, was my family's decision. My parents said that if I wanted to return to build the country in the future, I had to study Mathematics, and I listened," she said.

Professor Hoang Xuan Sinh when he was young on the cover of a newspaper. (Photo: Thang Long University)

According to Ms. Sinh, people still think that Mathematics is a difficult and miserable science, not suitable for women, but she learns Mathematics easily and naturally.

After graduating from the University of Toulouse (France), she enrolled in a master's degree in Mathematics, a difficult level of study at that time, because many people "studied until their hair turned white" but failed. In France, only descendants of the two prestigious families Marie Curie and Langevin dared to take the exam and had a chance to pass. But with determination and perseverance, she did that rare thing, at the age of 26.

In 1960, when the path to science was wide open, she chose to return to Vietnam and became head of the Mathematics Department at Hanoi Pedagogical University. During the war against the US, she had to evacuate, and she taught and did her doctoral thesis, under the guidance of the 20th century mathematical genius, the famous French mathematician Alexander Grothendieck.

In May 1975, Ms. Sinh went to France to defend her doctoral thesis. Normally, theses are typed and printed. The thesis writers receive support from the scholarship agency or the university where they work. Ms. Sinh had no support. However, with the position of Professor Grothendieck, her handwritten thesis was accepted. This is the only handwritten doctoral thesis defended in France and possibly in the world.

She then returned to Vietnam and successfully opened the first private university in Vietnam - Thang Long Private University Center (now Thang Long University).

Professor Sinh is the first Vietnamese woman to successfully defend her national doctoral thesis in Mathematics in Paris (France). (Photo: Thang Long University)

On April 29, 1980, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong signed a decision to recognize the scientific title of professor for 83 cadres and 347 associate professors working in university teaching and scientific research. Among them was the first female mathematics professor in Vietnam, Ms. Hoang Xuan Sinh, in the field of algebra.

Thus, Professor Hoang Xuan Sinh is both a female doctor and the first female mathematics professor in Vietnam.

Libra

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ai-la-nu-giao-su-toan-hoc-dau-tien-cua-viet-nam-ar933614.html