Teacher Xuan Loc's heart

Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Van Dien speaks at the anniversary ceremony of Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry. Photo provided by family

A teacher's gesture

In early 2025, when I returned to Xuan Loc (Song Cau Town), I was surprised to learn that this commune had a scholarship fund of up to 1 billion VND. According to Mr. Doan Ngoc Thanh, former Vice Principal of Viet Thanh Private High School (Ho Chi Minh City), this is a scholarship fund sponsored by his uncle, Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Van Dien, in January 2025, as a "little love for his hometown" Xuan Loc.

Previously, in November 2024, Mr. Dien also donated 2 billion VND to Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry to establish a scholarship fund to support poor students and excellent lecturers of this school.

Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Van Dien shared that the amount of 3 billion VND for the two scholarship funds is his hard work and savings after many years of hard work and teaching. This is a wish he has cherished for a long time. For many years, he has regularly given scholarships to studious students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry. At the age of 90, he wants to contribute more and has the intention to contribute more of his assets to the school after his death.

He said simply: “Forty years of teaching at the University of Agriculture and Forestry, I feel that my students and teachers are the ones who helped me become a person, so I want to thank them. In addition to supporting studious students, if the fund has 1-2 scholarships for lecturers who are good at teaching, good at research, and loved by students, it will also encourage teachers who love their profession to continue to contribute.”

The entire amount of these two scholarship funds is being deposited in the bank, and the interest will be used to award scholarships to studious students and excellent lecturers.

Doan Van Tuong Scholarship

According to the wishes of Associate Professor Dr. Doan Van Dien, the scholarship fund in Xuan Loc commune will be named after his eldest brother, martyr Doan Van Tuong. Mr. Dien hopes that there will be more talented people coming from his hometown Xuan Loc, his beloved hometown Phu Yen.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Doan Van Dien, the teacher's eldest brother - Mr. Doan Van Tuong - was born in 1921 in Chanh Loc village, Xuan Loc commune. His family had a tradition of studiousness, so from a young age Mr. Tuong was very studious and was famous for being a good student. While in high school, he had an article published in the Mathematics magazine, edited by Professor Hoang Xuan Han, and once he won "The person with the best solution in Indochina" when participating in solving difficult math problems in this magazine.

The locality highly appreciates the gesture of Associate Professor Dr. Doan Van Dien. The commune government has a plan to closely coordinate with his family so that the "Doan Van Tuong Scholarship" fund can operate transparently and effectively, promoting the studious spirit of the young generation of the hometown.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Chairman of Xuan Loc Commune People's Committee (Song Cau Town)

Mr. Doan Van Tuong joined the resistance very early and was a member of the Khanh Hoa Police Department's leadership during the anti-French period. After the preliminary agreement between France and Vietnam (March 6, 1946), while attending a secret meeting with his base, perhaps being tipped off, Mr. Tuong was arrested by the French at Ha Ra bridge (Nha Trang) with full evidence including documents and a pistol in the jeep he was riding. Detained but unable to exploit his bravery, the enemy killed him on the edge of a cassava field in Dien Khanh (Khanh Hoa province). At that time, he was only 25 years old. On May 15, 1978, Mr. Doan Van Tuong was recognized as a martyr by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong and posthumously promoted to the rank of major in the Public Security sector.

Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Van Dien was born in 1936 in Phu Yen. In 1954, he gathered in the North and studied at Hanoi Pedagogical University, majoring in Mathematics and Physics. In 1957, he taught Physics at Hanoi University of Agriculture and Forestry. In 1958, he was a lecturer in Agricultural Machinery at the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanics, Hanoi University of Agriculture 1. After the Paris Agreement in 1972, he joined the delegation of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the South at the request of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, with the task of surveying and planning the development of self-sufficient agriculture in area B2 (under the Central Office for the South). He participated in the establishment of B2 Agricultural High School (after the country was unified, it was Long Dinh High School) and became the principal. In August 1975, he was transferred to Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture IV to build the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanics. In 1989, he was elected as Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry. After his term ended in 1994, he returned to the faculty as a lecturer and retired in 1997. Also in 1997, he was appointed Principal of Lac Hong Private University (Dong Nai), and concurrently Principal of Viet Thanh Private High School (Ho Chi Minh City).

Associate Professor, Dr. Doan Van Dien confided: “Teaching is a noble and humane job. A teacher can only become a true teacher, fully qualified when he possesses both “heart” and “strength” and knows how to teach students to stand firmly on their own two feet.”

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/van-nghe/202504/tam-long-nguoi-thay-xuan-loc-0853e57/