Although I am completely independent of DTU, I still consider myself to have a special relationship with the university and feel that I now owe DTU something.
Associate Professor Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics
The reason is very simple. The DTU founders have taught me to understand the power of raising the limits and ambitions of the Central Vietnamese coastal region and the entire nation, during a difficult time. DTU is a valuable example of how history suddenly changes and its development should be studied closely as a model for future academic development. I believe that the name DTU is synonymous with the extraordinary and unique.
I do not intend this to be taken as random praise. My opinion is based on careful and responsible consideration, and verified by DTU’s history and an astonishing list of outstanding achievements over the past 26 years.
1. Firstly, consider the extraordinary date of its birth:
The Prime Minister authorized the foundation of DTU on 11/11/1994, a birthday with four consecutive 1s is rare. Actually, Jack Ma, owner of the Alibaba e-commerce company, also designated 11/11 as “Singles’ Day”, as an annual promotion, and, in 2019, witnessed record sales of $40 billion in one day! This coincidence may seem like chance, but the more random it is, the more it resembles a lucky omen.
It therefore appears that the DTU four 1s may be more fatalistic than a formality, borne out by the university’s goals, its working methods and its many successes during its development, implying that DTU will soon become number one, but in a different way.
2. The name, Duy Tan:
It is common for universities and colleges to be named after a famous historical figure or event. Duy Tan is the name of the famous Vietnamese Reformist Movement, from the early 20th century, founded by revolutionary scholar Phan Chu Trinh. DTU uses the name to suggest and identify with a burning desire, an unceasing struggle and the aspirations of the entire nation over the centuries.
As Vietnam is still on the road to more reform and international integration, the people of Quang Nam and Danang founded DTU to remember the heroic history of their homeland and, more importantly, to affirm their hopes for the future. The current strategy is to continue nurturing reformation, innovation and creativity, which the forefathers began but is left unfinished.
3. Activities and achievements:
Duy Tan is a name to be proud of because it reminds us of the pride of Central Vietnam in its struggle for reform and national renaissance. DTU’s main focus is always on the steady development of all activities, in a new and different way, which is strongly demonstrated by 25 years of dramatic achievements. The university can be very proud of them, but it is impossible to list all them here.
DTU started out as a private university, which was unusual in times of discrimination against poor, underfunded institutions. Initially this caused DTU to struggle through arduous transitions, but, starting from nowhere in a very poor competitive position, DTU plunged into the race, innovatively offering programs in response to current demand, in the long-term to particularly address future reforms in high tech and international integration.
DTU has now become one of our country’s most prestigious universities, with 20 departments, 10 research institutes and 22 centers for research and applications. The university offers PhD programs in 5 majors, Masters programs in 12 minors, and Bachelors programs in 33 majors. These include 13 international partnerships with 4 famous American universities, 6 associate training programs, 3 on-site study-abroad programs with the US, the UK, and Taiwan, as well as linking and distance learning programs.
DTU’s outstanding achievements include teaching quality, a broad student population at all levels, the number of papers published, the number of research projects realized, the percentage of graduates finding employment and education and research partnerships with famous foreign universities. DTU enrolled 25 classes for Bachelors with over 100,267 students, 12 vocational high school classes with 2,521 students, and 7 PhD classes with 48 research students. From 21 classes, DTU graduated 1,279 PhDs and Masters, 61,188 pharmacists, engineers, architects, and Bachelors, and over 8,000 vocational high school graduates. Over 95% find employment all over Vietnam and abroad within one year of graduation.
Meanwhile, DTU has become one of the top twenty universities in Vietnam and the first private institution to be ABET accredited for educational quality in Network Engineering, Management Information Systems, and Electrical & Electronic Engineering. DTU was one of four universities with most international publications of Vietnam in 2018 and 2019, ranked 451st in Asia by QS World University.
DTU has proved its capability to become competitive internationally. Its strong modern infrastructure, technical facilities, lecturers, management and operational systems now serve as the foundation of even more future breakthroughs.
4. Duy Tan people
As well as its association with Phan Chu Trinh, DTU is also forever linked to its founder, Distinguished Teacher and Hero of Labor Le Cong Co, and their joint ambitions for Vietnam.
Mr. Le Cong Co, is small in stature but always exudes a ferocious life force, with his huge ambition and iron will. He lived through the war as a soldier and the qualities of a true warrior are still being nurtured and burn brightly on the frontlines of education and research. This may be why, in difficult times with a rough beginning, DTU has overcome many difficulties, especially structural constraints.
Most important is Mr. Le Cong Co’s sense of responsibility and his willingness to take charge until the very end, which has been the key factor in DTU becoming a high-level, exemplary university. It is rare to find someone as dedicated and enthusiastic in their work as Mr. Co, and he has always convinced the academic community to support him wholeheartedly and help DTU survive in hardship and the darkest times.
His successors have inherited his abundant energy in their mission. True to its intention, DTU is successfully creating a team that operates in the spirit of “fathers first, children next”. Each previous generation trusts the following one, the following generation builds deservedly onto the previous one to reach new heights. This is how one private university has complemented the Vietnamese university system with new and efficient organization and management methods, developed according to the latest, changing international requirements.
5. A responsible community
As the first “new-generation” private university in Vietnam, DTU’s first steps were infinitely strenuous. The most significant and unprecedented challenge was discrimination. Fortunately, when the admirable mission of the founders was fully understood, the academic community began to support DTU, especially the leadership of Danang and MoET, who learned how to protect the university and even shelter it from further discrimination. They respected the fact that DTU was a child of Central Vietnam coast, an impoverished area, eager to learn.
DTU also partnered with the government, other universities, research institutes and the academic community, with great success. People are willing to work with DTU, not just for money or glory, but mostly because they have found the ideal environment to participate in our nation’s development there.
Mr. Le Cong Co often remarks that DTU is indebted for all the sincere help of others, because the university would never have survived without them! DTU is still very young, but has a long history of hardship and toil, which now guarantees new breakthroughs and a new era of development in the near future.
The road ahead is still hard and long. Away from the shore, the waves are high, causing a multitude of constraints and barriers which will be difficult to cross. However, DTU must leave the shore. That responsibility has become its mission. DTU must build a big and modern ship and prepare to cross the ocean, and is ready!
(Media Center)