Dr. Oudom Phonekhampheng during his appointment as President of NUOL.
Dr. Oudom Phonekhampheng was appointed President of the National University of Laos (NUOL) in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Previously, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture for more than 10 years and then the Vice President of NUOL since 2016. His research interests include sustainable agriculture and environment development, ichthyology and aquaculture, fish passage, and animal nutrition.
Dr. Phonekhampheng took his Bachelor’s degree in Ichthyology at the Institute of Technology and Fishery, Astrakhan, Russia from 1983-1987. He completed his MS in Fish Culture and Fish Seeds at Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand through a DAAD-SEARCA Scholarship from 1993 to 1996. For his MS thesis, he studied the “Use of Glandless Cottonseed as an Ingredient in Hybrid Catfish (Clarias macrocephalus x Clarias gariepinus) Feed”. His research explored glandless cottonseed as substitute for protein in soybean and fishmeal. From 2003-2008, Dr. Phonekhampheng pursued his PhD in Animal Nutrition and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Besides being a recipient of a full graduate scholarship, Dr. Phonekhampheng also received the SEARCA Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT) for his study on “The Different Potential of Rubber and Multiple Crops Production for Food Security and Poverty Reduction in Luang Namtha Province, Lao PDR". Through the research, Dr. Phonekhampheng studied local farmers’ requirements for multiple crop production and the potentials of rubber and multiple crops in relation to food security and poverty reduction.