Nguyễn Thiện Nhân (; born 12 June 1953) is a Vietnamese economist, engineer, professor and politician. He is currently a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

representing

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, where he served as its party secretary (''de facto'' mayor) from 2017 until his retirement in 2020. A member of the 11th and 12th Politburo of the Communist Party, he previously served as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front from 2013 to 2017 and as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

during Nguyễn Tấn Dũng's premiership.Approval of the new members in the Cabinet on August 2, 2007, Người Lao Động News
/ref> Prior to entering national politics, he worked as a systems engineer in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

before pivoting to

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and then serving in the municipal administration of Ho Chi Minh City, where he was its

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

from 2001 to 2006. He received a BS and a PhD in

Cybernetics Cybernetics is the transdisciplinary study of circular causal processes such as feedback and recursion, where the effects of a system's actions (its outputs) return as inputs to that system, influencing subsequent action. It is concerned with ...

from the

Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg The Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg () (Short: ''OVGU'') is a public research university founded in 1993 and is located in Magdeburg, the Capital city of Saxony-Anhalt. The university has about 13,000 students in nine Faculty (division), ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and the Military Medical Academy of Vietnam.

Early life and career

Nguyễn Thiện Nhân was born on 12 June 1953 in Cà Mau, Vietnam. His family is originally from Chau Thanh,

Trà Vinh province Trà Vinh () was a former province in the Mekong Delta region of Southern Vietnam. The capital is Trà Vinh City. Etymology Trà Vang was an old name used for this area, a hinterland with a sparse population. In 1825, the area of Trà Vinh was ...

. His father Nguyễn Thiện Thành was a professor and a doctor. His father was an intellectual who was active in the Vietnamese independence movement. Under the provisions of the Geneva Accords of 1954, his father brought his family to the North to live in the part of Vietnam under the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Encouraged by his father, after high school, in June 1970, he enlisted in the Vietnam People's Army as a cadet in the field of engineering. In 1972, he was sent to study abroad at the Technical University of Magdeburg (German: ''Technische Hochschule Magdeburg'') in

. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1976. In 1979, he successfully defended his PhD thesis in Cybernetics. His doctoral dissertation is Untersuchungen zur automatischen Steuerung der optimalen Fahrweise von Fernwärmeversorgungssystemen (Automated Control Research for the Optimum Operating Method of the Heating System) . After returning home in 1980, he worked as a researcher at the Controlled Arms Institute of the Military Institute of Technology under the Ministry of Defense (now the Missile Institute of the Military Science and Technology Institute) until 1983. Also in 1980, he was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1980, Senior Lieutenant in 1982. Nguyễn Thiện Nhân is known for a number of efforts in reforming the Vietnamese education system, widely supported by the Vietnamese public. He is also one of the senior officials in the Vietnamese government who has a good command of English along with Hoàng Trung Hải, another vice prime minister. Mr. Nhan is fluent in both English and German. He replaced Đinh La Thăng as the Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam for

beginning on 10 May 2017. On the evening of 17 October 2020, Nguyen Van Nen was elected Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee for the term of 2020–2025, replacing Nguyen Thien Nhan. Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan was assigned by the Politburo to continue to monitor and direct the HCMC Party Committee until the end of the 13th National Party Congress (taking place in January 2021).HCMC gets new Party Secretary
''Vietnam Express'' (18 October 2020)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Thien Nhan Deputy prime ministers of Vietnam Education ministers of Vietnam Members of the 11th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 12th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Government ministers of Vietnam 1953 births University of Oregon alumni Harvard University alumni Living people People from Cà Mau province Vietnamese economists Members of the National Assembly (Vietnam) Vietnamese educators