Tai is the only one of six diaspora mathematicians on the mentorship program, called Converging Scholars, who runs a U.S. math department.
The program is anchored at the University of Science under Vietnam National University, Hanoi (HUS-VNU) and will enroll its first cohort of doctoral candidates in 2026.
Tai will divide each year between Tulane in New Orleans, where he has chaired the mathematics department since July 2021, and Hanoi, where he worked at the Institute of Mathematics in 2000-2001 and has periodically returned for research collaborations, according to Tai’s personal homepage at the Tulane Mathematics Department and reports by the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (VIASM).
Fields Medal laureate Ngo Bao Chau, scientific director of the VIASM, announced Converging Scholars in early March in an effort to nurture Vietnam's math talents and prevent them from seeking training opportunities overseas.
Chau said Vietnam consistently ranks among the world's top performers at the International Mathematical Olympiad, but the country selects only six students for each year's IMO team out of roughly 50 of equivalent talent. With proper mentorship at home, he estimated, Vietnam could retain about 25 of them in mathematical research over the next decade.
