Professor Phan Luong Cam, the first female professor and doctorate holder at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and wife of the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, has passed away at the age of 82.

Hanoi University of Science and Technology confirmed that Professor Cam passed away this morning (April 9). She was known as the first female professor and PhD at the university (formerly known as Hanoi Polytechnic University).

According to her students, Professor Cam had been battling health issues for a long time.

Born in 1943 in Thua Thien Hue, Professor Cam was not only the spouse of former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, but also a distinguished scientist in the field of electrochemistry and metal corrosion.

She began teaching at Hanoi University of Science and Technology in 1965. In 1968, she was selected by the state to pursue doctoral research in the Soviet Union.

After successfully defending her dissertation on electrochemistry and metal corrosion, she returned to Vietnam in early 1973 and resumed her teaching and research career at the university.

Beyond her academic and research work, from 1996 until her retirement in 2008, she founded and served as the Director of the Center for Corrosion and Metal Protection Research at Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

She was also among the founding members and the first President of the Vietnam Corrosion and Metal Protection Science and Technology Association - the first time a woman had ever led a scientific and technical association in Vietnam. Additionally, she served as President of the Asia-Pacific Materials and Corrosion Association for the 1999–2001 term.

Professor Cam was awarded the Kovalevskaia Prize in 1995, the Labor Order, and numerous other medals and certificates of merit for her contributions to education, science and technology, the advancement of women, and the protection of children.

Thuy Nga