On 15 December 2025, Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, a 2025 TWAS Fellow from Viet Nam, has been appointed president of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCMC), stepping down as its vice-president in charge of international cooperation and scientific research. She joined VNU-HCMC in 1996, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and where she currently serves as a professor of medicinal chemistry. 

In 2005, she earned her PhD in pharmaceutical science from Toyama University, Japan, then returned to Viet Nam, where she began a distinguished career as head of department, deputy dean, and later dean of the Faculty of Chemistry. 

In 2021, she was named vice-rector of the University of Science, and in 2022 she assumed the position of principal of the university’s High School for the Gifted. 

In 2024, she was honored with the title of “Outstanding Educator of Viet Nam.”
An expert in pharmaceutical research, Thi Thanh Mai is renowned for her landmark work on the use of Vietnamese medicinal herbs as medicines. With her team, she identified local herbs with therapeutic properties, leading to the development of two medicines for gastrointestinal cancer and arthritis. 

She has also developed dietary supplements to support human health.
She won the Golden Globe Science and Technology Award in 2017, the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation Award in 2019, and the Kovalevskaia Prize, Viet Nam’s most prestigious recognition for female scientists, in 2021. Her nomination as president of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City makes her the first woman in Viet Nam to hold this position.