Professor Vo Van Toi decided to return to Vietnam to bring hisknowledge and skills to serve his home country’s development after morethan 40 years living abroad.
“I had lived abroad for too long andI wanted to return home to devote myselves for the country and make mydesire to help the development of the country come true,” Prof. Toisaid.
Prof. Toi had a stable life in the US as an academic atTufts University and Executive Director of the Vietnamese EducationFoundation (VEF). His return to a country of many difficulties causedgreat surprises to his family, friends and colleagues.
“Idon’t think so! I still see many golden chances for further developmentin Vietnam . I want to create an environment on my own, not wait toreturn when the environment is good,” Prof. Toi added.
After morethan 40 years of living abroad, Prof. Vo Van Toi resigned from VEF andtook an early retirement from Tufts University to come back toVietnam to become the Head of the newly created Biomedical EngineeringDepartment at the Ho Chi Minh City International University. Heplans to create a magnet to attract the Vietnamese diaspora to helpVietnam in higher education.
With his prestige, Prof. Toi invited lecturers from major universities to come to Vietnam .
Asthe Executive Director of VEF in 2007, he contributed a great deal tohelp develop and reform the education system in Vietnam, especially withhis initiative “On the Way Home”, a programme to sponsor Vietnamesestudents to study abroad and then return to work in Vietnam.
“I see the desire to work in those students, and I want to give them aplatform to develop, and a desire to return to Vietnam,” Prof. Toisaid.
His programme has provided scholarships to 300students. So far, 30 PhD students have returned to work in Vietnam,while others have decided to return to work in Vietnam as soon asthey finish their own studies.
“Vietnam has great demand for medical equipment, as well as the human resources to use the equipment,” Prof. Toi said.
He also expects that the production of “Made in Vietnam" medical equipment will soon become a reality.
Prior to his appointment at Tufts, Dr. Toi served as a post-doctoralfellow at the Biomedical Engineering Center in the Division of HealthSciences and Technology -- a combined program of Harvard Universityand the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
During hiscareer at Tufts, while on sabbatical, he was a visiting professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania in the US and the Swiss FederalInstitute of Technology in Switzerland.
He also helpedcreate, and was vice-director of, the Eye Research Institute in Sion,Switzerland . Dr. Vo Van Toi dedicated his expertise to helpingVietnam by co-founding the Vietnamese North American UniversityProfessor (VNAUP) network; and also by creating the BiomedicalEngineering Consortium of Vietnam-International Universities and theVietnamese Association of Biomedical Engineering.
“My life inVietnam is very comfortable. It’s a pity to live abroad so long,”Prof. Toi said more than one year after returning to his home country./.
“I had lived abroad for too long andI wanted to return home to devote myselves for the country and make mydesire to help the development of the country come true,” Prof. Toisaid.
Prof. Toi had a stable life in the US as an academic atTufts University and Executive Director of the Vietnamese EducationFoundation (VEF). His return to a country of many difficulties causedgreat surprises to his family, friends and colleagues.
“Idon’t think so! I still see many golden chances for further developmentin Vietnam . I want to create an environment on my own, not wait toreturn when the environment is good,” Prof. Toi added.
After morethan 40 years of living abroad, Prof. Vo Van Toi resigned from VEF andtook an early retirement from Tufts University to come back toVietnam to become the Head of the newly created Biomedical EngineeringDepartment at the Ho Chi Minh City International University. Heplans to create a magnet to attract the Vietnamese diaspora to helpVietnam in higher education.
With his prestige, Prof. Toi invited lecturers from major universities to come to Vietnam .
Asthe Executive Director of VEF in 2007, he contributed a great deal tohelp develop and reform the education system in Vietnam, especially withhis initiative “On the Way Home”, a programme to sponsor Vietnamesestudents to study abroad and then return to work in Vietnam.
“I see the desire to work in those students, and I want to give them aplatform to develop, and a desire to return to Vietnam,” Prof. Toisaid.
His programme has provided scholarships to 300students. So far, 30 PhD students have returned to work in Vietnam,while others have decided to return to work in Vietnam as soon asthey finish their own studies.
“Vietnam has great demand for medical equipment, as well as the human resources to use the equipment,” Prof. Toi said.
He also expects that the production of “Made in Vietnam" medical equipment will soon become a reality.
Prior to his appointment at Tufts, Dr. Toi served as a post-doctoralfellow at the Biomedical Engineering Center in the Division of HealthSciences and Technology -- a combined program of Harvard Universityand the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
During hiscareer at Tufts, while on sabbatical, he was a visiting professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania in the US and the Swiss FederalInstitute of Technology in Switzerland.
He also helpedcreate, and was vice-director of, the Eye Research Institute in Sion,Switzerland . Dr. Vo Van Toi dedicated his expertise to helpingVietnam by co-founding the Vietnamese North American UniversityProfessor (VNAUP) network; and also by creating the BiomedicalEngineering Consortium of Vietnam-International Universities and theVietnamese Association of Biomedical Engineering.
“My life inVietnam is very comfortable. It’s a pity to live abroad so long,”Prof. Toi said more than one year after returning to his home country./.
