Nguyễn Tiến Hưng (also known as Gregory Tien Hung Nguyen) (born November 1, 1935)''Who's Who In Vietnam.'' Saigon: Vietnam Press, 1974. was Minister of Economic Development and Planning in the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

and one of President

Nguyễn Văn Thiệu Nguyễn Văn Thiệu (; 5 April 1923 – 29 September 2001) was a South Vietnam, South Vietnamese military officer and politician who was the Leaders of South Vietnam, president of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1975. He was a general in the Repub ...

's closest advisers.Kahin, George McT. "The Other Paris Accords"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.'' January 18, 1987. Accessed 2010-02-27. As of 2010, he is Professor Emeritus of Economics at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in Washington, D.C. He was born in

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of capital Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh Cit ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, in 1935. He received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in mathematics and law from

University of Saigon Saigon University (SGU) is a public university located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The university offers over 30 degree programs through its academic faculties in 3 campuses, including law, business administration, information technology, appli ...

, his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

(1960) and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(1965) in economics from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He worked briefly for the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

before becoming assistant professor of economics at North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1963 and then assistant professor of economics at Howard University in 1965. He worked as an economist in Africa with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

from 1966 to 1969,"Bank on Wheels." ''Finance & Development.'' June 2004.
/ref> before being appointed "special assistant" to President Thiệu and Commissioner of Planning in 1973. He was named Minister of Economic Development and Planning on November 28, 1974. In an attempt to force

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

to honor what he and President Thiệu interpreted as promises of heavy American military aid should the war go badly, Hưng made public a series of letters which Nixon had sent to Thiệu in 1972 and 1973. Hưng fled South Vietnam after the fall of

Saigon 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 ...

, and returned to the United States. In 1977, he published a book about the economic development of Vietnam. With Jerrold L. Schecter, former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

correspondent and diplomatic editor of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, Nguyễn wrote ''The Palace File'' in 1986, which published the Nixon-Thiệu letters and provided additional insight on America's relationship with South Vietnam from his perspective. One reviewer said the book "provides significant new data on United States relations with South Vietnam from 1968 to 1975 and fresh insights into the character of Nguyen Van Thieu, the general whom the United States supported as South Vietnam's President from 1967 to 1975." In 1991, he advocated unfreezing the American-held assets of the South Vietnamese government and using them as leverage in improving human rights in Vietnam. In the early years of the 2000s (decade), Hưng was a senior advisor for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

's Rural Finance Project in Vietnam, where he worked on the design and implementation of the Mobile Banking Program. In 2005, he published (in

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

) the book ''Khi Đồng Minh Tháo Chạy'' ("When Your Ally Cuts and Runs").Nguyễn Tiến Hưng. "LịchSử ĐịaDư: Ứng Cử Viên Phó Tổng Thống Hoa Kỳ của Đảng Dân Chủ Joe Biden và Đồng Minh." ''Vietnam Review.'' October 21, 2008.
Accessed 2010-02-27

VOA Vietnamese. April 26, 2005. He released his most recent book, ''Tâm Tư Tổng Thống Thiệu'' ("In the Mind of President Thieu"), in May 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Tien Hung Vietnamese non-fiction writers Vietnamese people of the Vietnam War Vietnamese economists 1935 births Living people People from Thanh Hóa province American people of Vietnamese descent Academics of Vietnamese descent Government ministers of Vietnam 20th-century Vietnamese writers Howard University faculty North Carolina Wesleyan University faculty 20th-century American academics