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Mala Htun remembered as advocate for progress
January 28, 2025 - By Carly Bowling
Mala Htun, distinguished professor of Political Science and former special assistant to the dean for climate and inclusion in the School of Engineering, passed away on Friday, Jan. 24.
Htun’s scholarship centered on women’s rights, social inequalities, and strategies to promote inclusion and diversity. She was the author of three books related to the subjects including, “The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women’s Rights around the World,” “Inclusion Without Representation in Latin America: Gender Quotas and Ethnic Reservations,” and “Sex and the State: Abortion, Divorce, and the Family under Latin American Dictatorships and Democracies.”
Last year, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in a class that included Tim Cook and George Clooney, among others.
Though Htun’s legacy stretches far beyond the UNM School of Engineering, her work had a profound and lasting impact on the community. She served as special assistant to the dean during the tenure of Christos Christodoulou and later Donna Riley before stepping away from the role due to illness. During that time, she led the creation of the Committee on Climate and Inclusion and spearheaded the launch of the first Climate and Inclusion Survey in the school’s history–– one of the most comprehensive studies of a university engineering program’s climate completed to date, using validated measures from the literature –– aiming to foster a supportive and empowering environment for students, staff, and faculty. During the heat of the pandemic, she led a survey on attitudes toward the School’s Covid-19 response.
“Besides being a great scientist, an educator, a champion of women's rights, and a strong advocate for progress within the School of Engineering, she always sought to approach her work with kindness and a genuine desire to uplift those around her,” Christodoulou said.
The survey results helped create a robust understanding of racial and gender inequities faced by students, faculty and staff. Even after stepping back from her role, Htun would meet with Dean Riley to discuss strategies for improving climate.
“Mala brought critical intellectual vigor and a political understanding of how to create long-term change to all the projects she was part of. The social science work she conducted here provides us with crucial groundwork for measuring progress on climate and culture in our School and, ultimately, creating more inclusive STEM programming. Her work will help shape our community for years to come,” Riley said.
Htun helped coach departments on best practices for hiring faculty, encouraging committees to look beyond the metrics of publication numbers and degrees from prestigious universities. Eva Chi, associate dean for faculty affairs, was one of the faculty members who received hiring guidance from Htun and served on the Climate and Inclusion Committee she created. Chi said she brought a unique energy and thoughtfulness to her work that made positive change feel possible.
“She was such a creative person and I learned a lot from her,” Chi said. “To an engineer, she brought in such a different perspective.”
Htun also investigated how bystander intervention training could be adapted to an engineering setting to combat sexual harassment of people underrepresented in STEM fields. The project aimed to engage engineering faculty as bystander trainers of their students to assess whether the involvement of professors led to an overall greater commitment to creating a safe environment. Known as “New Strategies to Broaden Participation in Engineering,” the project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and included collaborators at the University of New Hampshire and the University of Georgia.
In 2022, Htun received a grant from the NSF to increase diversity among STEM faculty. The project, titled “AGEP to Engage Leaders to Improve Diversity among STEM Faculty” aimed to develop strategies to attract and retain faculty from underrepresented backgrounds. Htun worked on the project alongside Liz Godwin, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Jesse Alemán, a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature who served as Interim Dean of Graduate Studies. In an interview with the Albuquerque Journal, Htun’s husband Doug Turner said she received many job opportunities from universities around the country but always had a “deep commitment” to UNM and the students she taught.
She is survived by her husband, Doug Turner, their three children, Alexander Turner, 18, Livia Turner, 15, and Elinor Turner, 10, and parents, Dr. Helen Muller of Albuquerque and Dr. Ko Moe Htun of Honolulu.
The UNM Foundation plans to set up an academic endowment honoring Htun. People can send donations to the Mala Htun Memorial Academic Fund.