Dr. Anh Tran is Professor at the O'Neill School, Indiana University. His current research focuses on performance management and leadership in public organizations. His articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Politics, American Economic Journal: Applied Policy, and other leading academic journals. Currently, he leads two major USAID projects in Vietnam to train senior policymakers and innovate the higher education system. Tran frequently works as a consultant for reform initiatives by national governments, the United Nations and the World Bank. He is also a member of the Vietnamese Prime Minister's Research Council. He is successful in promoting many initiatives and training many local leaders throughout Vietnam. He received Asia Young Leader Award (2001), UN East Asia Specialist (2006), Outstanding Young Professor at Indiana University (2014). He received a Ph.D. in Public Policy, Harvard University, 2009. Dr. Anh Tran is the Principal Investigator of the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project

A Fulbright New Century Scholar, Teshome Alemneh earned his doctorate in earth sciences (soil sciences and land evaluation) at Ghent University in Belgium. Before joining IU in 2015, Teshome served as the program officer for Africa at the American Council on Education (ACE) office of Higher Education for Development (HED). In his position he effectively led and managed more than a dozen multimillion- dollar higher education partnership projects in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, and Uganda. Since 2008, Teshome has worked closely with IU regarding its partnership with the University of Liberia and the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts to rebuild Liberia’s health and life science academic programs and to address a national shortage of healthcare workers. Teshome held numerous educational and administrative posts in his native country of Ethiopia. From 2001 through 2005, he served as Ethiopia’s deputy minister of education, after leading the Department of Higher Education Academic and Research Affairs since 1998. Prior to working with the ministry, he held faculty positions as associate professor of soil science and land evaluation at Hawassa University and Ambo College of Agriculture. Teshome is an expert in higher education development, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa with over 25 years of experience in national-level policy making and leadership, teaching and research, project/grants management, and international education and capacity building. He has published journal articles, a book and book chapters, consultancy reports, and presentation papers on higher education issues in Africa. Dr. Teshome Alemneh is co-Principal Investigator of the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project.

Victor (Vic) M. H. Borden, Ph.D. is Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. He is currently Senior Academic Advisor for the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform in Vietnam and directed IU's Charting the Future initiative (2020-2023) as well as Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (2014-2022). Dr. Borden prior roles also include as Associate Vice President for University Planning, Institutional Research and Accountability at Indiana University (2005-2010), and senior institutional research positions at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI, 1992-2005), George Mason University (1987-1992), and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1984-1987). Dr. Borden's general area of scholarship is on the assessment and evidence-informed improvement of higher education programs and institutions. Dr. Borden was a Fulbright Specialist in South Africa and is an active contributor to several professional associations, most notably, the Association for Institutional Research, of which he is a Past President.

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Before working as Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project, Dr. Phuong Nguyen had worked as an Education Technical Advisor for Save the Children International, an education consultant for the World Bank in Vietnam, a lecturer at the New Zealand College of Business and Vice-Director of Research Institute in National Institution of Education Management. Her educational background includes a PhD in Education from University of New England, Australia and Fulbright scholar research at the New York University, the US. With 20 years of work experience in the education sector, she provides technical support for education projects, training for teachers in teaching pedagogy. She also oversees research projects that enhance faculties and teachers’ capacity.

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Phuong Ha has joined the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project since January 2022 as Project Management Specialist at Indiana University. She started her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam (MOFA) in 2008. From 2014 - 2016, she was seconded to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat and assigned Program Director for the APEC SMEs Working Group and liaison for the preparation of APEC Vietnam 2017 Hosting. After departing from MOFA, she was hired as the Executive Officer to the APEC Secretariat Executive Director (2016-2018).

Huong Nguyen Thi Lan is working as Project Manager – Governance Pillar. She earned her Advanced Master's degree in Governance and Development from Antwerp University, Belgium. She has over 18 years of experience working in the education field, including over 10 years of experience working in the Higher Education sector by coordinating and managing development projects in international organizations. Previously, she held a pivotal role as a Strategic Advisor on Education at VVOB. In this capacity, she concentrated on the development and provision of technical support for various programs on a national scale in Vietnam and internationally across VVOB partner countries. Notably, she brings considerable expertise in project management, having overseen initiatives involving 14 Teacher Training Universities in the Vietnam-Belgium bilateral project. Furthermore, she managed projects involving 14 universities in Vietnam under Belgian Development Agency (ENABEL), focusing on capacity development for leaders and managers in governance, research, curriculum development, and teaching innovation.

Dr. Tam Phuong is working as Project Manager - Teaching and Learning Excellence Pillar for the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project. She has nearly 30 years of experience working in Higher education as a lecturer, researcher, and project coordinator at Foreign Trade University, Hanoi. Her expertise includes faculty development, professional identity development for faculty, human resource development, and institutional development in higher education. She received Ph.D. in Educational Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University, USA. She also designed and supported training programs on effective teaching pedagogies in the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University.

Hieu Trung Ha is working for the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project as Project Manager – Research and Innovation Pillar. He has nine years of experience teaching and doing research at the University of Transport and Communications (UTC). He received a PhD degree in Transport Construction Engineering in Taiwan in 2020. He also has two years of experience working as a coordinator and manager of both science – technology and internationally cooperative projects at UTC.

Mr. Nguyen Vuong earned his MA in Education and Development at University of East Anglia under the Chevening Scholarship Program of the UK Government. Before joining the project in December 2022, Nguyen worked in multiple roles at the British Council in Vietnam and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU-HCMC). He's in charge of the Governance Pillar.

Lan Do Hoang graduated from Hanoi University, English Department in 2000. She served as a Project Assistant for Maryknoll Foundation, an American Catholic NGO, for 8 years. She had a chance to work with vulnerable groups, support them in development programs, such as vocational training for the disabled, cow bank for the poor youth and women, etc. Lan also had three years of experience working as an Interpreter and Translator for the ADB-funded project on Health Care Improvement in the Highland region. Before joining the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project, she worked as an Admission Officer for a private school, where she gained much experience in building relationships with parents and other partners as well as improving communication and negotiation skills to help her perform well in other positions. Currently, Lan is Project Officer for the Governance Pillar of the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project.

Thao Hoang Thanh is working for USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform as the Project Officer of Research and Innovation Pillar. Prior to joining the project, Thao has worked in both the private and NGOs sectors, having experience in learning design, educational technology and development project implementation. Thao received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Rochester.

Ms. Hong Huong Nguyen graduated with a major in Development Economics from National Economics University (NEU) and soon started working on community development projects aimed at supporting disadvantaged people in regions of Vietnam. She is currently enrolled in NEU's Vietnam-Netherlands Master's Program. Huong has been a Project Officer for Teaching and Learning Pillar since January 2023. Before joining the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform, she had nearly 15 years of experience working in community development projects across Vietnam with many NGOs, such as Room to Read, Pact, PlaNetFinance, VietED, etc. Huong is known for her work in the livelihoods, financial education, and microfinance fields as a senior program officer, projects manager, consultant, or an experienced trainer.

Van has 16 years of working experience leading monitoring and evaluation activities for health-related projects at Population Services International (PSI), PATH, and ORBIS International in Vietnam. Strengthening the M&E system, providing capacity building for staff and partners, and working with people are her strengths. She believes it makes monitoring, evaluation, and learning more interesting and inspiring, while successfully partnering with government, community partners, and the private sector helps maximize the program's impact and sustain health services. In March 2024, Van joined the project to lead the development and management of monitoring, evaluation, and learning, as well as knowledge management activities.

Thanh Ha Nguyen Thi is the Institute of Vietnam Initiative's Chief of Finance - Administration, responsible for the administrative and financial management of the Institute of Vietnam Initiative's programs, including the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project, starting in August 2021.

Thanh Ha has a Master's degree in Economic Management and 20 years of experience as Chief Accountant of the Trust Fund for Forest cum Chief Accountant of the Forest Sector Support Program Coordination Office, Coordinator of IPFES Project Management of the National Forest Network, Financial Compliance Manager (External) at ActionAid and other organizations.

Thanh Huyen Bui Thi graduated from the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture with a degree in accounting, has been working at the Institute of Vietnam Initiatives since August 2019, and joined the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project as a Financial Officer in August 2021. She had approximately ten years of experience working as a general accountant, internal audit officer, and financial officer for NGOs (CARES, SCDI) and representative offices (GPA) in Vietnam, executing projects in education, agriculture, and community development.