Olga Dror

Olga Dror is a Professor of History at Texas A&M University, specializing in Modern East Asia and Vietnam. Her research spans Vietnamese and Chinese theistic religions, European missionaries in Asia, and the social impacts of war including the Tet Offensive and youth experiences during the Second Indochina War. She holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University (2003).

Education:

• Ph.D., Cornell University, 2003

Research Focus: Dror examines political religions, transnational religious movements, and state formation through works like her 2018 monograph “Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities, 1965–1975”. Current projects include analyzing Ho Chi Minh’s cult in Vietnamese statehood, comparing it to communist leader cults globally.

Awards:

• National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
• Henry Luce National Humanities Center Fellowship
• Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship (Nantes)
• Dan David International Fellowship

Future Work: Her upcoming monograph explores Ho Chi Minh’s cult’s role in Vietnamese state identity, integrating comparative studies of communist leaders like Stalin and Mao.