The passing of Dr. Vo Quy
Pam McElwee pamela.mcelwee at rutgers.edu
Tue Jan 10 10:33:57 PST 2017
Dear list –
I’m sorry to have to share the sad news that Dr. Võ Quý passed away this morning Vietnam time. I was privileged to work with Dr. Quý for many years, as he sponsored my dissertation research in Ha Tinh in the late 90s, and have done several life history interviews with him for a work-in-progress on a history of biodiversity and species conservation in Vietnam. He had been in ill health for more than a year, and although he was frail when I last visited him in July 2016 to give him a copy of my recent book, he still had the same twinkle in his eye that he has always had. I have not yet seen an official obituary, so I have sketched one up myself below. If there will be a public memorial service through Vietnam National University I will share details when I have it.
Dr. Võ Quý was born December 31, 1929 in Ha Tinh Province. He began his education in China during the Franco-Vietnam war, returning to Vietnam in 1954 where he was part of a group that founded the University of Hanoi on the site of the old Université Indochinoise. Trained as an ornithologist, he obtained his PhD from Moscow University in the 1960s. Dr. Quy spent his career at Hanoi University of Science (later Vietnam National University) teaching zoology and biology, and founding the first environmental studies program through the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, established in 1985. He maintained an active fieldwork regime, equipped with his constant binoculars, well into his late 70s. For many years Dr. Quy hosted a popular TV show on VTV about the environment and was often recognized by schoolchildren as “Professor Bird (Giáo sư Chim)”. Dr. Quy received many awards throughout his lifetime, including the 2003 Blue Planet Prize and a 2008 Heroes of the Environment award from Time Magazine. His research and writings on birds, biodiversity, sustainable development, Agent Orange, and in more recent years, climate change, show the breadth of his interests; his 2 volume The Birds of Vietnam remains a classic in this field. In addition to his research, he actively influenced the national government in many policy areas, such as establishing a protected areas system (he was a strong influence on General Giap, who served as State Science Committee head for many years) and sought and supported many development projects, including to relocate or reintroduce endangered species like sarus cranes, to reforest mangroves and other vegetation blighted by Agent Orange, to bring sustainable development to his home province of Ha Tinh, and to get Vietnam to sign international agreements for wetlands and migratory birds. It is no understatement to say that without Dr. Quy, there would likely be fewer parks, fewer species, fewer researchers, and fewer young people interested in the environment in Vietnam. He lived up to the promise of his name Quý.
In 2016, in celebration of his life, a collected volume titled “Môi trường và đa dạng sinh học” (Environment and Biodiversity) was published by the Vietnam National University Press. It includes Dr. Quý s selected papers (scientific and others) and then a number of newspaper and other articles by other authors about his work in English and other languages. I have a copy and can post the TOC online somewhere soon. You can read more on the new book here:
http://www.cres.edu.vn/vi/an-pham-xuat-ban/gioi-thieu-sach-moi-truong-va-da-dang-sinh-hoc-cua-gs-vo-quy.html <http://www.cres.edu.vn/vi/an-pham-xuat-ban/gioi-thieu-sach-moi-truong-va-da-dang-sinh-hoc-cua-gs-vo-quy.html>
Vĩnh biệt thầy Quý! He will be sincerely missed.
Pam McElwee
Dr. Pamela McElwee
Associate Professor, Department of Human Ecology
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Affiliated graduate faculty: Department of Anthropology, Department of Geography, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Office phone: 848-932-9209
Mobile phone: 480-252-0999
Mark Sidel mark.sidel at wisc.edu
Tue Jan 10 11:07:19 PST 2017
What sad news….
Dr. Quy was one of the Ford Foundation’s earliest partners in China, and I spent much time with him and his colleagues in the early and mid-1990s when I had the privilege of being able to expand and manage the Ford programs in Vietnam. To my mind he combined brave and clear-sighted intellectual thinking with brave and clear-sighted programmatic skills. The first is rare. The second – academics as clear and courageous programmers, struggling toward better policy, better capacity building, real institution building, and more scholarly knowledge, and really understanding how to program (vs. how to research, or just applying for grants) – is also rare…. To combine intellectual and programmatic skills at the highest levels? Exceptionally rare indeed. For someone who works in a foundation, as I did for many years, it’s like finding saola to work with….
Vietnam has been blessed with several such very special individuals who combine the highest level of intellectual and programming talents – Vo Tong Xuan also comes to mind.
Like many others on the list I mourn Vo Quy’s passing….
Thanks very much to Pam for letting us know and for her excellent bio of Dr. Quy.
Mark Sidel
Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law and Public Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Consultant (Asia), International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Visiting Chair in Community Foundations
Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University (2016-2017)
mark.sidel at wisc.edu | (319) 321-7913 | skype/wechat marksidel
http://www.law.wisc.edu/profiles/sidel
Diane Fox dnfox70 at gmail.com
Tue Jan 10 11:22:48 PST 2017
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Sad news indeed. Yet what a life! How much he did with his life, how much he gave to the world! And yes… that inspiring twinkle. I only worked with him a few times, but want to stand with you, head bowed, to honor him, his work, his integrity, the knowledge and inspiration he gave. A truly great human being.
Many thanks to you both, Pam and Mark, for the bio and your reflections.
Diane
Diane Fox
Retired
Oscar Salemink o.salemink at anthro.ku.dk
Tue Jan 10 11:48:49 PST 2017
Dear Pam,
Very sad news indeed, about GS Võ Qúy’s passing.
He was a major figure, and widely respected as one of the early environmentalists in Vietnam. Thank you for sharing this sad news, along with an impromptu obituary.
Oscar Salemink
Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Copenhagen
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Denmark
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E-mail: o.salemink at anthro.ku.dk<mailto:o.salemink at anthro.ku.dk>
Personal webpage at the Department of Anthropology<http://anthropology.ku.dk/staff/beskrivelse/?id=403491>
Personal webpage at the Asian Dynamics Initiative<http://asiandynamics.ku.dk/english/people/vip_staff/os/>
Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Religion, Politics and Society (ACU Melbourne) <https://irps.acu.edu.au/people/professor-oscar-salemink/>
Project Leader of the Sapere Aude project ”Global Europe: Constituting Europe from the outside in through artefacts”<http://globaleurope.ku.dk/>
Project Leader of the HERA-funded project “HERILIGION: The heritagization of religion and the sacralization of heritage in contemporary Europe”<http://heranet.info/heriligion/index>
Personal webpage at Academia.edu<https://ku-dk.academia.edu/OscarSalemink>
Personal webpage at Researchgate.net<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Oscar_Salemink/contributions>
Charles Waugh charles.waugh at usu.edu
Tue Jan 10 12:39:25 PST 2017
Dear Pam,
Thank you very much for delivering this sad news and for the lovely biographical sketch. Dr. Quy had a huge impact on me when as an undergraduate I first saw “After the Fire,” in which he discusses the lingering impacts of the use of chemical defoliants in Vietnam. He had such an incredible presence in that film, such dignity, and yet such playfulness even when discussing difficult things. He not only shaped how I thought about Vietnam, but also the environment, social justice, and how to deal with our history in the present. I feel so lucky to have heard him give a talk at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi, and to have spent just a few minutes talking with him after. A hero has passed.
Charles Waugh
Utah State University
Thompson, C. M. thompsonc2 at southernct.edu
Tue Jan 10 13:06:23 PST 2017
Dear Pam,
Thanks very much for posting this very sad news! I had not seen Professor Quy in over 10 years but I remember his many kindnesses and his acute observations of nature and mankind's place in it and impact on it in Vietnam very well. I think it can be said that he influenced and shaped several generations of students, both Vietnamese and foreign, interested in environmental issues in Vietnam from both scientific and humanistic backgrounds. He will be much missed.
Sadly
Michele
Michele Thompson
Professor of Southeast Asian History
Dept. of History
Southern Connecticut State Univ.
Pam McElwee pamela.mcelwee at rutgers.edu
Wed Jan 11 05:54:55 PST 2017
Thanks to all who shared personal reminiscences about Dr. Quy. There is an obituary in the New York Times today by Mike Ives, a VSG lister, which is a fitting recognition of an important life well lived:
There will be a memorial service on Monday through CRES in Hanoi.
Best,
Pam McElwee
Dr. Pamela McElwee
Associate Professor, Department of Human Ecology
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Affiliated graduate faculty: Department of Anthropology, Department of Geography, Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Office phone: 848-932-9209
Mobile phone: 480-252-0999