First Vietnamese awarded highest French science-technology honor

The Legion of Honor, as it is called in English, the highest French order of merit, was handed to Professor Minh, 60, by the French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery at a Friday event in Hanoi.

As President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the largest and most prominent research institute in the nation, Minh has made efforts to support and promote the development, cooperation, training and transfer of a number of key technologies of the 21st century between French research units and the academy via almost 200 projects.

He has also proactively negotiated and developed a roadmap of cooperation to implement two Vietnamese projects supported by the French government, which comprise the first Earth observation satellite of Vietnam, VNRED-Sat1, and Vietnam-France University, or the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi.

"This is not only a great honor and a noble reward for me, but also a recognition of the contributions made by generations of staff at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in promoting the long-term and sustainable cooperation with many research and higher education institutions in France. The award also contributes to strengthening the Vietnam-France strategic cooperation relationship," Minh said while receiving the merit.

A native of central Thua Thien-Hue Province, Minh became vice president at the academy in February 2007 and president the next year.

Several Vietnamese have been honored with the Legion of Honor, including Professor Ngo Bao Chau and former Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.