Interview Dr. Levy: "TTU will need to grow definitively but carefully" DR. EUGENE H. LEVYAndrew Hays Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics & Provost Emeritus, Rice UniversityMember of the Founding Board and Academic Affairs Committee of Tan Tao University

1. Why did you originally decide to become part of the founding of TTU?

Research universities are among the most important and valuable institutions foradvancing society and civilization. The extraordinarily abilities of human beings to learn, tounderstand, to conceptualize, to communicate, to preserve knowledge, and to pass ideasand learning on from each generation to the next, constitute the singular characteristicsthat most set us apart from all other living creatures on our planet. That is what isresponsible for all the behaviors, capabilities, and accomplishments that underlie humancivilization. Universities, more than any other institutions, specifically embody and supportthose singularly human attributes. I was inspired by the Tan Tao University vision – andthe specific philanthropic vision of the founder, Mme. Hoang-Yen Thi Dang – to establish auniversity that could evolve to become an internationally distinguished institution of higherlearning and research for the benefit of the Vietnamese people and the world. It is privilegeto try to help that to happen.

Left to right: Dr. Levy and his wife - Dr. Erzsébet Merényi, Mr Michalak, Former UnitedStates Ambassador to Vietnam in Hoa Trang Nguyen Award Ceremony

2. TTU has gone through the first 5 years. What advice can you give us for the nextfive years?

TTU is off to an outstanding start. It is exciting to see it and to realize how much has beenaccomplished in a relatively short time. I see the next five years as being very important toset the trajectory for the longer future. In order to achieve its ambitions, TTU will need togrow definitively but carefully. Over time, it will be important that TTU become largeenough in several dimensions, not just in the numbers and abilities of the students, butalso to support the range, diversity and quality of activities, facilities and faculty to realizethe ambition that it has set for itself. This will not be accomplished overnight. And neitherwill it be accomplished in five years. This a long-term project. What has accomplished inonly five years, starting from a blank slate is both remarkable and important. However, thesetting of the trajectory and the establishment of a clearly sustained commitment toadvancement over the next several years will be equally important to TTU's long-termdevelopment.

Dr. Levy in TTU first Commencement Ceremnoy

3. What advice would you give to the first graduates of TTU?

But for now I would advise that students try to make the most of their educational years atTTU. I mean this not just in terms of the subject-matter that they have learned, but also interms of personal, ethical and humanistic characteristics that also should have advancedin them during those most important developmental years. They should try to use theirknowledge and abilities boldly sensitively to advance not only their own interests but alsothe best interests of the institutions and the broader society. I would also advise them, asthey become successful in their careers, to make a sustained commitment to help Tan Tao

University realize its long-term vision of becoming a great international university. Thismeans that they must become supporters of carefully considered change as well assupporters of tradition.

4. What obstacles does TTU need to overcome for its development?

Rather than answer in terms of obstacles, I would rather first answer in terms ofchallenges. I think the most important challenges are: leadership, resources, imagination,self-critical insight, the ability to identify and focus on the highest priorities, and thewillingness to undertake constructive change. The time and space are too short here todiscuss these in detail, but I emphasize again, that these are the challenges for alluniversities, not just for a new university like Tan Tao, but equally as much for well-established universities.Coming back to the question of "obstacles" that might turn out to be specific to TTU, Iwould say that the lack of tradition and long-established and widely-accepted publicpolicies in Vietnam in support of high-quality private research universities – such as is theTTU vision – could present obstacles to TTU's development. But I am confident that thebenefits to Vietnam of a vibrant, high-quality set of research universities – including bothprivate and public universities – is so obvious to intelligent government leadership that anysuch obstacles as may arise will be overcome.

Le Chi - TTU Media