Prof. Edward J. Baker on March 19 became the first US professor to be presented the insignia “For the Cause of Education” by the Ministry of Education and Training for his contributions to educational development in Vietnam.
He was one of the first to initiate educational cooperation with Vietnam in the 1980s-1990s. He met with Vietnamese scholars, seeking opportunities to help the country’s students to study at US universities, including Harvard. Baker nominated over 200 Vietnamese students who then received scholarships to study as postgraduates in the US.
Baker, who has worked with various Vietnamese universities and institutes like Hue University, the Can Tho University, the Hanoi and the Ho Chi Minh City National University ’s Departments of Social Sciences and Humanities, was also the first person to take part in the implementation of education cooperation programmes between Vietnam and the US.
He has worked as Deputy Director of the Harvard Yenching Institute, a foundation affiliated with Harvard University.
