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This obituary includes excerpts from the University of New Mexico Newsroom and the Albuquerque Journal.
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APSA is extremely saddened by the recent passing of Mala Htun, author and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at The University of New Mexico. She was 55.
Born in Hawaii, Htun moved to Albuquerque in 1982 when her mother became a professor at UNM. Htun received her Ph.D. in political science from Harvard and a A.B. in international relations from Stanford. She was an assistant and then associate professor at the New School for Social Research from 2000-2011.
She worked on comparative politics, women’s rights, social inequalities, and strategies to promote inclusive organizational climates in STEM. She was the author of three books, most recently The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights around the World, co-authored with Laurel Weldon, which won the 2019 International Studies Association’s Best Book Award in the Human Rights Section.
Htun was named as a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at UNM in 2024. The rank of Distinguished Professor is awarded to faculty who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and are nationally and internationally renowned scholars. This is the highest title that UNM bestows upon faculty. She was also elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2024.
Dr. Htun’s contributions and service to the profession are numerous and far-reaching. She served as vice president of the American Political Science Association (2001-02) and was a former member of the APSA Council (2020-21). She also served as the chair of the APSA Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession (2017-2020) and co-chaired the Presidential Task Force on Women’s Advancement. Htun was an Andrew Carnegie Fellow in 2015, a fellow at the Kellogg Institute of the University of Notre Dame and the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard, and held the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship in Japan.
“Even with all her success, Htun’s husband, Doug Turner said she remained “100% committed to her students and making sure they had the best experience learning from her, the political science department and UNM.
She was always interested in bringing in thought-provoking speakers and thinkers, getting people to be uncomfortable, to think outside the box about a lot of these big questions that she worked on.” – Albuquerque Journal
UNM Foundation set up an academic endowment honoring Htun. Donations can be sent to the Mala Htun Memorial Academic Fund.
- Read full article at the University of New Mexico and the Albuquerque Journal.
- Htun Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences, University of Notre Dame
- Emergence of an Organized Politics of Race in Latin America, Mala Htun