Mala Htun, 1969–2025

I learned today that Mala Htun, professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, died in January, after living with cancer for several years. She was the TA for my college course in the political economy of economic development. I could not now name most of my TAs, but a few of them stood out, as though everything about them was drawn with a surer hand and brighter colors. Mala Htun—I find myself wanting to call her “Dr. Htun,” although she wasn’t then, not yet—was one of them. She shone with a light of inner purpose, intellectual and moral, and was one of the sharpest people I have ever met. Whenever someone started to ask a question in the discussion section, she could see around multiple corners to know where they were going with it.