Teachers overcome themselves
Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam was born in 1925 in Son Tan commune (now Tan My Ha commune), Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province in a patriotic military family. Since childhood, he followed his father to live in Thanh Hoa. In 1941, he became a student at Quoc Hoc Hue High School for the Gifted and graduated with a full-time Ph.D. After the success of the August Revolution in 1945, with well-trained knowledge, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam quickly started his education career and worked at Dao Duy Tu Secondary School in Thanh Hoa province.
In 1954, the North was liberated. Although he has been a teacher in Thanh Hoa for nearly 9 years, at the "mature" age of his career, he still went to Hanoi to receive a university education. After graduating from university, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam became the first teaching staff of the University of General Medicine, in the modern and applied Vietnamese History Department, Faculty of History, under the direct guidance of Professor. Tran Van Giau. From Thanh Parish Teacher to lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam has made the first important change in his career.
In his research, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam always upholds three principles: Research to serve the Fatherland; ensure scientificity and towards educational goals. However, over time, along with new historical documents being added as well as innovation in the country's academic atmosphere, he has changed many times, even denied himself. His analysis of the Vietnam National Liberation Movement has become softer and more defensive, not forced, not included everything in the category of the class struggle's arguments; his new assessment of the Nguyen Dynasty, with many historical figures such as Phan Thanh Gian, Nguyen Van Tuong, Phan Dinh Phung, Nguyen Truong To... has also become more objective and fair. Therefore, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam truly became an example of a teacher who is always innovative.
A teacher leads and creates
In addition to being a talented and outstanding scientist, Prof.NDND is admired for being an exemplary pedagogue in both talent and personality. After nearly 2/3 centuries of dedication to the education sector, more than 60 years of research, 30 consecutive years as the valedictorian of the modern and applied Vietnam History Department under the Faculty of History, Hanoi University of Science and Humanities (now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University), Prof. Dr. Dinh Xuan Lam has shaped a standard teaching style but also has its own unique characteristics.
Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam has trained thousands of students across the country. Many famous scientists holding many important positions in training institutions, political and social organizations at the central and local levels are direct students of the Professor. Dinh Xuan Lam.
Not only has he made great contributions to his research and training career at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam is also a pioneer in disseminating scientific knowledge in remote lands or places that the Fatherland needs. After the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975), Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam was soon invited to be an invited visiting professor for the second year of History students: course 1 (1975 - 1979), course 2 (1976 - 1980), course 3 (1977 - 1981) of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in the difficult context, even relatively " sensitive" in the 70s of the last century, when the North - South had just agreed. Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam is also a member of the first generation of teachers in the Vietnam Higher Education Experts Association sent to teach at the University of Japan in August 81 at the invitation of the host country.
A teacher - father
Generations of cadres and students of the Faculty of History often agree in the way they evaluate the human personality as well as the pedagogical style of the Professor. Dinh Xuan Lam. That is the style of a teacher - father.
Professor. Tran Quoc Vuong assessed Professor Dinh Xuan Lam as more mature without being shy, more calm without being complacent, less ambitious without not being wholeheartedly devoted to any expectation or ideal,... His intellectual and behavioral skills have the sophistication and rituals of Hue culture, the purity and elegance, the romance, ... of French culture.
His pages of writing do not have big, sharp words, but are always philosophical and clear, but there are many sharp comments. He always exudes a rich, elegant style but is approachable, open and somewhat witty.
During his lifetime, Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam once said: "If I had a future, I would still choose the teaching profession". That saying summarizes the great love and perseverance of Prof. Dinh Xuan Lam with the career of educating people.
The teaching profession has never faced such challenges and big changes as it is today. There are many challenges for the teaching profession, but perhaps the biggest is the challenge from within. That is the challenge of innovation, surpassing oneself to adapt and develop. The bigger the challenge, the more fluctuations, the more teachers have to return to core values. Learning and contemplating the model of a teacher in its true sense - Professor. People's Artist Dinh Xuan Lam is an opportunity for each of us to find the values of science, love and ethics, strengthen the qualities of a teacher, and be ready to welcome new opportunities.
On February 25, 2025, at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNUHHN in collaboration with the Vietnam Historical Science Association and the Dinh Xuan Lam Historical Foundation organized the program "Exhibition and Seminar to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Professor of History, People's Teacher Dinh Xuan Lam".
