The Vietnam Education Foundation 2011 Annual Report

Annual Report 2011 Page 11
The Vietnam Education Foundation
2011 Annual Report
Reporting Period: October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011
INTRODUCTION
The Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), an independent Federal Government agency created by the U.S.
Congress in December 2000, has demonstrated its organizational and management capabilities through positive
program outcomes during this eighth reporting period from October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011. By
law, VEF is governed by a thirteen-member Board of Directors (Appendix 1: Vietnam Education Foundation
Board of Directors) including two U.S. Senators and two U.S. Representatives, who have six-year non-renewable
appointments; the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Education, all of whom have ongoing appointments on the
Board; and six Presidential appointees, selected from the U.S. citizenry, on three-year renewable terms. The By-
Laws for the Board of Directors, which were initially adopted by the VEF Board of Directors in September 2002,
were revised on July 15, 2010 (Appendix 2: By-Laws of the Board of Directors).
As of September 30, 2011, the four U.S. congressional appointees were Senator David Vitter, Senator Richard
Blumenthal, Congressman Loretta Sanchez, and Congressman Joseph R. Pitts. The three U.S. cabinet-level
appointees were Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Secretary
of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner. The congressional and cabinet-level members of the Board typically appoint
a designate on their behalf to represent them at VEF Board meetings. The six U.S. Presidential appointees
sitting on the Board as of the end of September 2011 were the following: Christopher J. Fussner, serving as
Chairman of the Board of Directors; Sandy Hoa Dang, serving as Chair of the Fundraising Committee; David
Duong; Marjorie Margolies; Stephen F. Maxner, Ph.D.; and Isaac F. Silvera, Ph.D., serving as Chair of the
Finance Committee. Following the appointments of the new Chairman of the Board of Directors and of the two
new Board members (Isaac Silvera and Sandy Dang), a Press Release was published in both the United States and
Vietnam (Appendix 3: Press Release on the Appointments of New Chairman and Board Members). In order to
assist new Board members to understand the various activities of VEF, an orientation was conducted by the VEF
U.S. Headquarters office in July 2011, which focused on VEF operations and financial matters (Appendix 4: VEF
New Board Member Orientation).
The Board appoints an American citizen as Executive Director to oversee VEF operations conducted through
two highly coordinated offices: the U.S. Headquarters office, consisting of five U.S. federal government
employees, including the Executive Director; and the Hanoi Field Office in Vietnam, consisting of eight
Vietnamese employees. The programs are managed successfully within budget, under the expertise of highly
capable VEF staff (Appendix 5: Vietnam Education Foundation Staff).
Funded by Vietnam’s debt repayments to the United States, VEF focuses on educational exchange activities, as
mandated in the VEF enabling legislation 1 , in the following fields: sciences (natural, physical, and
environmental), engineering, mathematics, medicine, and technology (including information technology), which
1 P.L. 106-554, Title II – Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000