A historic handshake between VinUni and America's most prestigious university.

“This is my second time returning to Vietnam, and the scenery at VinUni has overwhelmed me. Five years ago, this place was just a rice field; it's unimaginable that a young university like VinUni could develop so miraculously. Now, both the architecture, scale, and quality of education at VinUni strongly reflect the spirit and style of a top-tier university in the world,” commented Professor Max Pfeffer, Institute of Life Sciences , Cornell University, and Director of the VinUni-Cornell Partnership.

According to traditional rules, developing a world- class university takes a very long time; Cornell University took over 150 years to find its direction and build the brand it has today. That's why he was surprised to witness the rapid development of VinUni.

VinUni possesses the key elements to create a great university: talented students, outstanding faculty, a network of leading scientists, strong investment from Vingroup, and the right direction.

Recalling the "first brick" that laid the foundation for cooperation between Cornell University and VinUni, the professor shared that in December 2016, Dr. Mai Lan, Vice President of Vingroup, led a delegation to Cornell University with the desire to establish a completely new and different university in Vietnam that would reach global standards.

The Cornell University leadership was very impressed by the delegation's professionalism, thorough preparation, friendliness, and courtesy. However, some members of the university were skeptical about the proposal at the time, because VinUni had not yet been established; everything was still just an idea on paper.

Throughout Cornell University's history, it has been rare for the institution to be involved in creating entirely new educational facilities. Cornell has long been present worldwide, striving to both teach and conduct research, and support the development of academic centers. However, Cornell has never had a significant presence in Southeast Asia, with most of its work based in India and China. Thanks to Vingroup's persuasive efforts and passionate desire to transform the country, the leaders of Cornell University agreed to support and collaborate on this development.

The historic handshake between a world-leading university and a completely new institution begins here. Cornell University's mission is to provide programs, resources, and advice to help VinUni become an outstanding university. At the same time, Cornell sees this as an opportunity to write the story of developing a completely new university in Vietnam and globally.

In the initial phase, Cornell worked with VinUni's experts in recruiting senior leadership positions: president, deans, and key human resources officers, together laying the foundation for a university.

The next phase involves recruiting outstanding faculty from around the world and Vietnam. Even Cornell professors participate in developing teaching content that is up-to-date with global standards.

When the first batches of students enrolled, we became even busier, focusing on developing experiential programs, facilitating study abroad exchanges, and expanding their diverse learning experiences.

After five years, Cornell University and VinUni have completed the development of internationally standardized curricula. What is important for Cornell is VinUni's aspiration to develop collaborative relationships with universities worldwide, especially those in the United States. The development of a world-class university truly requires international connections with many universities around the world, which VinUni is rapidly pursuing.

“We chose the US and Ivy League schools because of their high level of internationalization and diversity. Ivy League universities focus on practical training, solving real-world problems, and diverse startup ideas in technology and commerce. These align perfectly with Vingroup's philosophy when developing VinUni,” shared Dr. Le Mai Lan, Vice President of Vingroup and Chair of the VinUni University Board, regarding the first steps in the company's journey towards global reach.

In the winter of 2016, Dr. Mai Lan, along with three senior education experts, including representatives from the Ministry of Education and Training and the president of a prestigious Vietnamese university, traveled to the United States to explore opportunities for collaboration with Ivy League schools. Their only resources for this collaboration were a letter of introduction from the US Embassy, ​​a sheet of A4 paper, and a USB drive containing information about Vingroup.

“The snow was so thick and blanketed New York City that it was difficult for the four of us to walk. We went there, scheduled meetings with the leaders of each Ivy League university to give presentations about Vietnam and Vingroup, determined to find opportunities for cooperation,” she recalled.

Most Ivy League schools were surprised by Vietnam's rapid development; however, many had never visited Vietnam. They only knew Vietnam as a country shaped like the letter S, haunted by a war-torn past. They had never had deep educational collaborations with Vietnam, knowing more about China, India, and South Korea. This was the biggest obstacle to their proposal to collaborate on building a completely new university. Initially, the response was one of rejection, as the schools were unwilling to take the risk.

For the delegation, everything was as uncertain as the white snow in New York, until they met with the leaders of Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.

“Cornell University is nestled deep in the jungle, completely isolated from the bustling outside world. From New York airport, the group had to travel for nearly six hours by car. The first impression upon arriving at Cornell was one of awe; it was classic yet vibrant – a true student city,” Dr. Lan recalled.

Unlike previous universities, the Cornell University leadership asked, "What can we do to collaborate with VinUni?" This initial question was truly inspiring, triggering in-depth academic and professional discussions between the Vingroup delegation and Cornell at the time.

The day the snow stopped falling in Ithaca State, New York, was also the day Cornell University agreed to a strategic partnership with VinUni, working alongside them to develop programs, support faculty, research, and training.

From another perspective, Professor Rohit Verma, one of the key members in developing the Cornell-VinUni cooperation framework, said: “When Vingroup proposed the cooperation project, I was the Director of the Institute of International Relations at Cornell University Business School. I had traveled to many other regions in Asia such as India, China, South Korea, and Japan, but I had never been to Vietnam.”

In the beginning, he and his colleagues at VinUni had to work around the clock due to the time zone difference and the enormous workload. "My health deteriorated a little at that time," the professor confided.

After nearly two years of development, the Indian-American professor was overwhelmed with emotion at the moment, precisely at 11:00 AM on November 11, 2019, when VinUni launched its official website and began its first enrollment period. Thanks to the strong and timely support from Vingroup, we now have a world-class facility, have been able to invite the best lecturers, and recruit the most promising students. “ This was also the moment I decided to come to Vietnam to take on the role of founding president of VinUni,” he recalled.

While VinUni started with only about 10 people in 2018, it now has approximately 175 members, including faculty and staff from around the world. Vingroup and VinUni have every right to be proud of building a world-class higher education institution with outstanding facilities such as: a medical simulation laboratory, a library, a supercomputer lab, an anatomy lab, and a smart medical center…

The second achievement is recognition by international standards. QS is a university ranking organization from the United Kingdom with the highest rating being 5 stars. In 2023, VinUni had 7 different categories that received 5-star ratings, including: Teaching, Internationalization of Education, Academic Development, Facilities, Culture and Arts, Social Responsibility, and Equality and Inclusion.

In addition, VinUni students have won numerous international awards in programming competitions, blockchain, business debates, and more. Many third-year students have been accepted into master's programs at leading universities worldwide, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, and the University of Technology Sydney.

Another achievement of the students is their entrepreneurial activities and community service to create a positive impact on society. Scientific research by VinUni faculty members is published in prestigious journals, has won prestigious awards, and is gradually creating practical impacts in life.

VinUni's President, Professor Rohit Verma, understands that much work remains to be done to realize the aspiration of becoming a world-class university, especially in the next 20 to 25 years.

VinUni needs time to prove its ability to train future young leaders. “I think the founders of VinUni are on the right track because from the beginning, the university has had a long-term vision and has remained steadfast in that vision,” he said, adding that the goal is to strive to bring VinUni into the list of the top 50 young universities in the world.

Dr. Le Mai Lan, Chair of the VinUni University Board, stated that in the coming period, VinUni will not only continue its strong cooperation with Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania but also further enhance teaching and research, expanding partnerships with prestigious universities both domestically and internationally.

During its second five-year period, VinUni has two major plans. First, to continue enhancing the reputation and quality of its training programs, while adding new majors, expanding scale, and achieving international accreditation standards in its programs. This is the core plan, requiring enormous effort and unwavering determination.

Furthermore, to affirm VinUni's concrete contributions and value to the community, both in Vietnam and globally, VinUni will strengthen its research and development activities, especially in the fields of Smart Health, Smart Environment, and Innovation. Accordingly, the university will establish collaborative relationships with research organizations and businesses to create innovative and highly applicable products and solutions.

Source: https://vtc.vn/cu-bat-tay-lich-su-giua-vinuni-cung-dai-hoc-danh-gia-nhat-nuoc-my-ar784263.html