Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong was elected as a Foreign Correspondent Academician.

According to information from the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, at the meeting on October 17, 2025 of the French Academy of Inscriptions and Fine Letters (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres), Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Cuong, former Director of the Institute of Han Nom Studies, was elected as a Foreign Correspondent (Correspondant étranger) at the age of 45. He is the second Vietnamese scientist to receive this honor, after the late Professor Phan Huy Le.

Báo Tin Tức•13/11/2025

Photo caption — Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong is recognized as one of the leading experts on Han Nom documents, textual studies and Vietnamese intellectual culture. Photo: Thanh Huong/VNA

The French Academy of Inscriptions and Fine Arts was founded in 1663 and is one of five member institutes of the French Academy (Institut de France), a world-leading institution in the field of humanities, specializing in archaeology , history, philology and classical culture.

Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong was born in 1980 in Thai Binh (now Hung Yen), is a Senior Researcher, was appointed Associate Professor in 2019, defended his PhD in 2012, taught at Hanoi National University and held the position of Director of the Institute of Han Nom Studies from 2015 to 2025. He was also a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute (Harvard University, USA) and participated in the Japan Foundation's academic program in Osaka (2011-2012).

With more than 20 books and more than 100 studies in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Japanese, French, and Korean, he is recognized as one of the leading experts on Han Nom literature, textual studies, and Vietnamese intellectual culture. He presides over the Han Nom Cultural Library, co-presides over the Vietnamese Stele Library, and the Post-Vietnam Stele Library, which are important projects in preserving, systematizing, and disseminating Vietnamese cultural heritage.

The honor comes with the responsibility of spreading knowledge

According to Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong, the title “Correspondant étranger” is an academic honor given to international scholars with outstanding contributions in the field of humanities. His selection is a tribute from a leading prestigious European Academy, with a history of more than three and a half centuries, for the academic contributions of a Vietnamese scholar. From his perspective, this is not an honor reserved for an individual, but reflects the respect for many generations of Vietnamese scholars who have devoted many years to and contributed to the field of Vietnamese studies and classical humanities.

He expressed his deep gratitude to his predecessors such as Professor Phan Huy Le, Professor Ha Van Tan, Professor Nguyen Tai Can, Professor Nguyen Quang Hong, who laid the foundation for Han Nom research and classical humanities, creating values for future generations to follow.

In recent years, many research works, international publications and academic cooperation of Vietnam have been highly appreciated, contributing to making the voice of Vietnamese knowledge more and more clearly present on the world academic map; in which Han Nom heritage, a distinct part of Chinese civilization in East Asia, is receiving great attention from international scholars.

Vietnamese knowledge in the international academic flow

From the perspective of academic development, Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong believes that Vietnam needs to invest more heavily in basic research, especially in fundamental fields such as history, archaeology, cultural studies, linguistics, and Han Nom, which, although not creating immediate material value, are the core of national identity and the basis for equal dialogue with the world.

He emphasized the role of long-term international cooperation, based on sharing data, methods and ideas, to build a sustainable knowledge network between institutes, schools and the scholarly community. Only when Vietnam builds a strong academic foundation from within, with a team of well-trained experts, modern methods and a liberal academic spirit, can Vietnamese knowledge be heard at the international level.

During his time working at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong has always strived to contribute to building a modern research environment, combining traditional cultural values and international scientific methods; promoting the digitization of documents, preserving classical culture and expanding research and training cooperation with major academies in the world. His view is that Vietnamese knowledge can only truly step out into the world when supported by real capacity and a humble but confident academic spirit.

Professor, Dr. Le Van Loi, President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said that the election of Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong as a Foreign Correspondent by the French Academy of Inscriptions and Fine Arts is a very valuable recognition for the Vietnamese social sciences and humanities community. This is the respect of a prestigious academy with a history of hundreds of years for the serious and persistent academic contributions of a Vietnamese scholar. This achievement shows that Vietnamese intellectuals can completely step out into the world with their real capacity and dedication, and at the same time reflects the maturity of the domestic research team in the process of international integration. This event is even more meaningful in the context of the Vietnamese scientific community actively promoting international cooperation in science and technology development in the spirit of Resolution 57 of the Politburo .

Professor Le Van Loi emphasized that this honor is not only for Associate Professor Nguyen Tuan Cuong personally, but also a source of pride for the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the social sciences and humanities community nationwide. This is an important motivation for young researchers to continue to nurture their passion, pursue genuine academic values and contribute to bringing research on Vietnamese culture and history closer to international friends.