Assoc. Prof. NGO THI PHUONG Lan is the incumbent President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (USSH, VNUHCM). She also serves as Director of the Center for Rural Development - Saemaul Undong (the CRD-SU), under USSH, since 2016, and has led the center to become the pivotal institution in rural development, particularly in implementing Vietnam's National Target Program on New Rural Development and the One Commune One Product Program.
Under her leadership, CRD-SU has been entrusted with conducting numerous projects on studying and disseminating Saemaul core values and experiences to various localities, compiling Saemaul textbooks, enhancing the capacity of farmers, developing community-based tourism, implementing smart village initiatives, and promoting high-tech agriculture. For her contributions, she was awarded the commendation "For Vietnam Agricultural and Rural Development based on Saemaul Spirit” by the Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, Korea, in 2024, along with many other commendations from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and provincial departments in Vietnam.
An anthropologist by training, Assoc. Prof. Lan is the author of 18 books, over 10 international peer-reviewed journal articles, and 50 articles in Vietnam’s reputed academic journals in the fields of cultural, social, tourism, environmental, and economic anthropologies.