Title with Advance at UNM:

Deputy director

Your background in academia:

Htun is political science professor at UNM and special advisor for inclusion and climate in the School of Engineering. She works on women’s rights, social inequalities, and strategies to promote inclusion and diversity. Htun is 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 (Cambridge Press, 2018), and numerous scholarly articles. She serves as chair of the Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession of the American Political Science Association and co-chaired the Presidential Task Force on Women’s Advancement. She has been an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, 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. She holds a 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.

Why were you attracted to the project?

I’ve worked on women and politics for more than 20 years and have seen that even when some women advance to senior positions, institutional climates and everyday practices often persist that make it tough for other women to realize their potential and contribute to the greater good. In addition, I believe that institutional changes that benefit women are good for everyone.

What’s that one cool thing about you?

I have been a dedicated ashtanga yoga practitioner for 16 years.