Professors Tran Dai Nghia and Ta Quang Buu — the two founders who laid the first bricks of HUST, from Decree 147 of 1956 through the hard early years of Vietnam's first technical university.
On 6 March 1956 Minister Nguyen Van Huyen signed Decree 147/ND. Major General Tran Dai Nghia, who had left Paris at President Ho Chi Minh's invitation, became the first Director.
Professor Ta Quang Buu, his successor as Rector, shaped the University's training model, staff and emblem; the main library bears his name.