SMU Fulbright Scholar To Develop Curriculum In Vietnam

SMU law professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to develop curriculum for a major in intellectual property law at the Vietnam National University Faculty of Law, in Hanoi.

Nguyen joined the Dedman School of Law faculty in 2003 and focuses her teaching and research on intellectual property, the Internet, commercial law and taxation. She has co-authored several treatises and casebooks on those topics

Professor Nguyen is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and also serves as an expert witness in litigation matters. Nguyen, born in Vietnam but raised in the United States, was the first American law professor to lecture at the Vietnam National University Faculty of Law in Hanoi. She also provides technical expertise to the Vietnamese government, law schools and bar associations.

Administrators at the Vietnamese law school asked her to develop the curriculum to expand the impact she could achieve through teaching occasional classes there. “When I leave, they will teach the students using the curriculum I have developed,” Nguyen said. “I’ve been working on a book for them to use.”

Nguyen’s award will allow her to work in Vietnam from January through June 2009, and she will be one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty members and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholarship.  The program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas to allow people the opportunity to exchange ideas through studying, teaching or researching abroad. The program operates in more than 155 countries.

Information on the Fulbright program is available at http://fulbright.state.gov.

Information on Vietnam National University is available at http://www.vnu.edu.vn/en/

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