Carleton University Mourns the Passing of Nguyen Huu Chi
Nguyen Huu Chi, former chair of Carleton’s Department of Political Science, passed away at the age of 83. He joined the university as a faculty member in 1971 and taught until his retirement. Chi pursued a variety of research areas, including international relations, comparative politics, political violence, mathematical modelling and computer simulation.
He was the father of four children, including Charles Chi, who served as Carleton’s chancellor from 2011 to 2017.
A member of the board of directors for the Canadian Political Science Association from 1973 to 1975, he served as its secretary treasurer from 1979 to 1981.
Chi was born and educated in northern Vietnam before enrolling in law school at the University of Saigon. In 1961, he left to pursue his PhD in political science at Michigan State University.
In 1965, Chi returned to Saigon to teach, but was pressed into government service in the new Republic of Vietnam. In 1966, he served as the governor of Quang Nam Province, a sensitive area close to the northern border.
Chi’s anti-militaristic views led him to seek an independent political voice. He ran for a newly created senate body in 1967, however, his apparent victory was nullified.
Chi left Vietnam in 1968 to teach at Tel Aviv University in Israel before moving with his family to Canada.
Through the years, Chi was dedicated to public service, justice and politics, and was active in numerous refugee resettlement programs in Ottawa throughout the 1980s.
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