Starting the journey to light up the dream of bringing Vietnamese knowledge to the world since the late 20th century, Dr. Thy Binh has gradually overcome many difficulties, laying the first foundation to create runways for many generations of Vietnamese students on the journey of integration with modern global education.

In the early days of coming back home (Vietnam) from the US, she only thought of helping disadvantaged and unfortunate lives, especially orphans and disadvantaged children, with planned volunteer trips. Then by chance,, during those trips, she accidentally met Vietnamese young people who, despite their difficult lives, were very eager to go to school, which prompted her to think of building an international standard education system in her homeland. Dr. Thy Binh cannot avoid surprises in this journey and encounters many difficulties because studying abroad is still very new. But it is those thorns and challenges that further motivate her to realize her dream determinedly. That flame of enthusiasm for education was lit and passed on to generations of teachers and students of the American International School System APU and American University in Vietnam – AUV.

Dedication to building a world-class international school system

In the eyes of the American International School System APU and the American University in Vietnam – AUV teachers and staff, Dr. Tran Nguyen Thy Binh has always been a respectable leader because she is very psychological, gentle, but very determined and brave in her work. The passion for work and enthusiasm have helped T.S Thy Binh make the dream of bringing Vietnamese students to access high-quality education in the world come true.

Cherished and carefully prepared from the end of the 20th century, in 2004, Dr. Thy Binh started realizing the dream of establishing the American International School System APU, providing the American standard education program for Vietnamese and international students from kindergarten to high school levels with the first campus in Ho Chi Minh City. Following the success, American International School APU in Da Nang was established in 2015. In 2019, a bilingual program was opened to meet students’ unique learning needs and conditions. Under her leadership, the American International School System APU has been continuously honored by world-renowned educational organizations such as the world’s largest educational accrediting organization Cognia™, appearing in the special publication “International Schools of the Year 2021” by Siliconindia magazine, and “The Most Trusted Boarding Schools 2021” list voted by Knowledge Review. In addition, World Schools – an organization that evaluates top educational institutions worldwide, also honored APU in special categories such as Best American International School in Southeast Asia, Best International School in the World, and the International School with the best Bilingual Program in the world. These achievements have contributed to affirming the reputation, prestige, and quality of American-standard training of APU’s international and bilingual program teaching system on the academic map of Vietnam and the world.

The Year 2015 was also a special milestone for the American Education Group APU when it officially held the solemn opening ceremony of the AUV, contributing to raising the education in Vietnam with the mission of bringing American-standard Bachelor & Master training programs to Vietnamese and international students. AUV is committed to providing all students with international standard education, especially all of AUV’s majors have been cooperated and supported by prestigious universities worldwide such as Arizona State University., Florida Institute of Technology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Wentworth University, University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC), University of Texas A&M, California State Universities… in the US and many other prestigious universities around the world… Recently, AUV is honored to be in the list of “Top 10 Business Schools worth studying in Asia – Pacific” voted by Higher Education magazine. This achievement has recognized AUV’s growth in providing high-quality higher education programs, especially in the field of Economics.

In addition to developing the American International Bilingual School APU in Da Nang with an English training program up to 90% of the lessons with native teachers to build and complete the US Urban Education Village with international-standard modern and spacious materials in the South of Vietnam, Dr. Thy Binh also constantly promotes international cooperation with prestigious universities in the US to bring the best training programs for APU and AUV students. With College Bridge Program, only available at APU, students can accumulate US college credits while still in high school, thereby graduating as early as 1 – 2 years, helping parents and students save maximum time and costs to study at prestigious universities in the world, the most in the United States after graduating from APU high school.

With all her enthusiasm and heart for the cause of education, Dr. Thy Binh has turned the impossible into reality, helping the young generation of Vietnam easily access and enjoy modern education in the best way.

When asked what motivated her to work more than 20 hours a day, Dr. Thy Binh shared: “It is because my students, generations of APU students, when they stepped out into the international student arena, were very confident in asserting themselves when they enrolled in the gold list of many prestigious universities, right from the very first semester. That has become my motivation to work harder every day to bring out the best for the children.”

Sweet fruits of achievements from generations of students

During nearly 30 years of educational connection between the US and Vietnam, APU has helped many generations of Vietnamese students access modern American education in their homeland and allowed them to enter prestigious universities in the US and worldwide with valuable scholarships. Many generations of students and graduates of APU and AUV have been successful, currently holding many important positions in many universities, organizations, or large corporations the world over.

One of the APU’s brightest stars is Ho Hoang Duy, who graduated valedictorian in class 2014 at APU International School HCM and was honored to receive a full scholarship in Science from UMKC University. During his studies at UMKC, Duy was awarded a DISA (Dean’s International Scholar Award) scholarship for his Master’s program and continued to highlight this journey with the first prize of his Hack-A-Roo programming competition in UMKC in 2019, and this was one of the opportunities for him to have Ph.D. scholarship in Artificial Intelligence at UMKC. When asked about his high school in Vietnam, Duy said: “The most fortunate thing for me at APU is that I have early access to American education. Studying with local teachers has helped me overcome all obstacles and easily integrate into the US study environment. Ms. Binh and APU helped me discover my capabilities, especially giving me confidence and confidence in my abilities”.

Or the stories of former student Nguyen Ngoc Huyen Tran, a graduate of APU, class of 2008, graduating from Stanford University, one of the world’s best universities for many years in a row, is taking the position of Senior Data Analyst at Microsoft, the world’s largest technology corporation. Another example is Le Ngoc Truyen, who graduated in 2012, excellently earned a Master of Science degree at the University of California, Berkeley (ranked 9th in the world-renowned higher education institutions) is currently working at the Lygos multinational corporation. There are many other bright faces from APU and AUV, such as Ho Hoang Phuc – the valedictorian in 2013 who is busy with his brainchild, Lean Start Lab Company in the US; Nguyen Bang Thanh – APU alumnus of class 2010 is currently working as a Project Manager for Boeing; Dinh Khang Hy – APU alumnus of the 2009-2010 class who is completing his Ph.D. and teaching at Tufts University; Dang Kim Thi, a former APU student, class of 2012 is now a Doctor of Pharmacy in the US.

In recent years, despite many difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic and constant changes in study abroad policies, APU and AUV continue to affirm training quality and maintain the recorded achievements. Especially in 2021, despite being heavily affected by the Covid-19, APU still achieved great success when it brought home more than 500 prestigious scholarships worth more than 20 million USD for graduates of this course. There is hardly any international school where the rate of students passing a transfer visa to study in the US is up to 100%, like APU. In addition, many AUV students have easily transferred to study abroad at prestigious universities in the US and the world to continue reaching out on their journey to conquering their dreams.

Over the past 25 years, APU, under the guidance of Dr. Thy Binh, has grown enormously to become one of the most prestigious and pioneering education systems in Vietnam and the region. This is the most apparent evidence showing Dr. Thy Binh’s stature, thinking, and desire to reform education and training in Vietnam in recent years.

“Every woman has the power to make a difference, to take leadership anywhere, as long as she puts her heart into her work.” Dr. Thy Binh is a different woman who has an enterprising spirit and a bright torch that guides and inspires passion and dedication to all teachers, staff, and students of APU and AUV during her lifetime career.