Fulbright at 30: Homecoming… and the Next Steps Toward New Horizons

From a small alley classroom to an independent university

On November 30, 1995, FETP was officially established through a cooperation between Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, launching the first training programs in economic management for government officials, business leaders, and university lecturers. In the context of Vietnam’s transition to a market economy, FETP was seen as a special “policy laboratory,” where concepts of market economics, institutional reform, and public governance were discussed frankly, grounded in data and academic debate.

From that foundation, the program gradually evolved into Vietnam’s first Master in Public Policy program, in close partnership with Harvard, providing human resources that contributed to the country’s reform and development. In 2016, when Fulbright University Vietnam - the first private, non-profit university in the country - was officially licensed, FETP became the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management (FSPPM), a key academic unit within the Fulbright structure.

Today, FSPPM not only offers the Master in Public Policy (MPP) with concentrations in Policy Analysis and Leadership & Management, but also organizes numerous short courses in public management, public sector leadership, local economic development, and urban governance for central and local officials. At the same time, its executive programs help leaders from government agencies, businesses, and social organizations update their thinking and acquire new policy tools.

Fulbright University Vietnam - the “larger home” of FSPPM - is built as an independent, non-profit university operating under modern academic principles: autonomy, transparency, and a strong commitment to academic freedom. From its current campus in Phu My Hung (District 7), Fulbright is preparing to move to a new campus in the Saigon High-Tech Park, expected to be completed after 2026, with the ambition of becoming a regional hub for education and research.

The Fulbright community: a service-driven network across Vietnam

After 30 years, from those first classes, Fulbright has produced more than 1,800 graduates from its public policy programs, not counting the thousands who have completed short courses and specialized training. They work in ministries and central agencies, local governments, research institutes, social organizations, private companies, and financial institutions. Many hold key positions in designing, implementing, and evaluating public policies.

The Fulbright School Alumni (FSA) community is therefore much more than a network of “former classmates.” It is, in a real sense, a professional and social ecosystem. In that ecosystem, an urban planner can team up with a data specialist; an entrepreneur can exchange perspectives with a legal expert, so together they can design policy solutions or community projects that genuinely reach the people they are meant to serve.

In recent years, alongside the development of Fulbright University Vietnam, this community has become even more deeply connected with the wider Fulbright programs funded by the U.S. Government - such as the Fulbright Foreign Student, Fulbright U.S. Scholar, and Fulbright U.S. Student programs - creating two-way “knowledge bridges” between Vietnam and the world. Scholars and experts from abroad come to Vietnam to teach and conduct research; conversely, many Vietnamese researchers, lecturers, and officials receive Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States and then return home to continue contributing.

The Fulbright network is not confined to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Alumni are present in many provinces and cities, forming chapters by region and by professional theme: from finance and banking, urban planning, and environment, to education, healthcare, and innovation. Many local policy initiatives - from urban development plans and green transitions to administrative reforms - quietly bear the imprint of people who once “sat in the same Fulbright classroom.”

These alumni do not only make policy. They also join hands in community projects: trips to island districts like Phu Quy, pro bono advisory programs for small businesses, workshops for university students, and research projects on smart cities, climate resilience, and resource governance. From classroom to distant islands, from lecture hall to local government offices, Fulbright is present through concrete people doing concrete work.

Homecoming 2025: the “coming home day” for those who have gone far

In that 30-year current, Homecoming 2025 - held alongside the celebration of FETP’s 30th anniversary - was far more than a formal ceremony. It was truly a “coming home day,” where generations of faculty, students, and alumni gathered again in a Fulbright space full of memories.

From early morning, the campus buzzed with academic and networking activities. The thematic seminar “From Urbanization to Urban Studies: When People, Data, and Policy Co-Create City Intelligence” was designed like an “open classroom” for many Fulbright cohorts. There, the story of planning and developing southern Ho Chi Minh City - from Nam Saigon - Phu My Hung to Thanh Da Peninsula - was retold from an insider’s perspective, connected with the latest updates from the FUSE research group on using big data in socio-economic studies: mobility patterns, digital maps, and forecasting models.

At the same time, the FSA Business and FSA Legal groups co-organized a seminar on “Multi-Perspective Approaches to Crisis Management.” Here, the structure of a crisis - where leadership, communications, and legal issues intersect - was “dissected” by Fulbright faculty and experts through real-world case studies: corporate communication crises, legal disputes, and leadership dilemmas in uncertain contexts. Classical analytical frameworks from courses in Public Leadership and Policy Analysis were “taken out of the classroom,” placed in real-life settings with hard choices at the top and the challenge of restoring public trust.

This was a very Fulbright-style “classroom”: where the teacher might be a long-time faculty member, but the storytellers were often alumni now in executive roles, and everyone in the room had the chance to ask questions, debate, and add insights from their own experience.

Even before the academic sessions, the Homecoming atmosphere was “warmed up” by the FSA Pickleball Championship 2025 - an energetic sporting event held on the afternoon of November 21 at D-Joy courts on Nguyen Luong Bang Avenue (District 7). Thirty pairs competed in two categories, Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles, symbolizing Fulbright’s 30-year journey in which “early cohorts” played on the same court as younger generations, where people who once argued fiercely in class were now battling for every point on court - but the whole event was filled with laughter. The tournament also served as a fundraiser for FSA’s scholarship fund, with the support of many businesses and partners.

Thirty years on and the next chapter of the Fulbright story

When the lights of the 30-year FETP-FSPPM Anniversary and Homecoming 2025 gradually faded, what lingered was not just commemorative pins or photos posted on social media. It was a deep sense of “belonging” felt by everyone who has passed through Fulbright, whether they now work in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, a mountainous province, or at a university half a world away.

After three decades, Fulbright is entering a new chapter: a chapter of smart cities, digital transformation in the public sector, global risk governance, sustainable development, and deeper integration into the global Fulbright network. FSPPM continues to expand its graduate and executive programs, strengthen data-driven policy research, and build interdisciplinary labs; Fulbright University Vietnam is opening new majors and forging more international partnerships.

In a turbulent world, long-standing Fulbright values - academic integrity, a spirit of public service, and faith in evidence-based dialogue and debate - are more essential than ever. Ultimately, public policy and community development are about relationships between people, about trust and responsibility.

That is why “returning to campus” is not about indulging in nostalgia, but about recharging, updating one’s knowledge, renewing connections, and asking oneself: over the next five or ten years, what will I contribute to my community, my locality, my country? For each generation that steps out from Fulbright, that question is both a reminder and a promise.

Thirty years ago, Fulbright began in a small classroom in a Saigon alley. Thirty years later, it is a large, diverse, multi-generational community sharing the same ideal of using knowledge in the service of others. The story is clearly far from over; Homecoming 2025 is just a comma in a much longer symphony. From this “day of coming home,” goodbyes at the campus gate are also new departures - so that one day, somewhere down the road, everyone will again have a reason to return.

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(*) MPP23 (2021-2023)

By Le Linh Chi (*)