Prof. Vinh joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1968, where he is a tenured full professor of Aerospace Engineering, has received both the Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Research awards, and produced many outstanding researchers and teachers. He was also a visiting professor at the Ecole Nationale Supericure d'Etudes Aerospatiales in France in 1974-1975, and a chair professor of Applied Mathematics at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan in 1982. He has also taught at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Colorado. He was the Commander of the South Vietnamese Air Force from 1958 to 1962 .

Prof. Vinh has published three books and nearly 100 technical papers in Mathematics, Astrodynamics, and Trajectory Optimization. He was elected as a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics in 1986 and a foreign member of the French National Academy of Air and Space in 1984. Recently, Prof. Vinh was presented the 1996 Excellence 2000 Award by the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC.