U.S. Educators Travel to Vietnam

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Jul 28, 1995) — 

Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA) announce their upcoming seminar entitled "U.S. Education Into the Twenty-First Century." This joint program, to be presented at Hanoi's West Lake Village on July 31 and August 1, features three prominent speakers from leading universities in the United States and senior level MOET officials.

This two-day program will focus on topics that are essential components of Vietnam's higher education reform process. The speakers include: Dr. Edward H. Jennings, President Emeritus of The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio); Dr. Nick Poulton, Professor of Technology and Assistant Director of International Programs at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana); and Dr. Charles Bender, Director of the Ohio Supercomputer Center (Columbus, Ohio). Dr. Jennings has extensive international experience as a speaker on the US higher education system. Professor Poulton is a leader in strategic planning for higher education in developing countries. Dr. Bender is the head of one of the premier computing centers in the United States.

The audience will be drawn from key officials of various ministries, state committees, universities and institutions with higher education responsibilities.

MUCIA is considered the leading educational consortium in the United States. Its members are collectively referred to as the "Big Ten" universities and are recognized as being among the top public research and teaching universities in the United States. Established in 1964, MUCIA has been active in bringing the resources and expertise of these universities to assist developing countries on every continent. MUCIA currently has a Basic Memorandum of Understanding with MOET's International Relations Department to cooperate on higher education reform efforts.

"We are very pleased to be working closely with Minister Tran Hong Quan and Professor Tran Van Nhung of the Ministry of Education and Training," said Dr. William Flinn, MUCIA's president and executive director. "MOET is working hard to modernize Vietnam's educational infrastructure and we feel privileged to assist them in any way we can."