Mazlan Othman

Mazlan Binti Othman (born December 11, 1951 in Seremban ) is a Malaysian astrophysicist who has held several important positions in her home country and was head of the United Nations Office for Space Affairs in Vienna until 2013.

Mazlan Othman (2009)

Beginnings and training

Othman attended Tunku Kurshiah College in Seremban. Her mathematical talent became the reason for participating in a scientific course. Although her family encouraged her to become a doctor, she used a free place provided by the Colombo Plan at the University of Otago in New Zealand to study physics , which she graduated in 1975. After teaching at the National University of Malaysia , she returned to Otago to become the first woman to do a PhD in physics since the university was founded in 1869 .

career

Othman returned to her homeland as the first astrophysicist in Malaysia and devoted himself to setting up an astrophysics course at the national university and promoting public interest in astronomy and the issues of space . She also worked as a researcher for a semester at the Japanese Kiso Observatory .

The Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad appointed her in 1990 as head of the department for planetariums in the Prime Minister's office. In this role she supervised the development of the national planetarium (Planetarium Negara) in Kuala Lumpur . After the planetarium opened in 1993, Othman became director general of the Malaysian government's new division for scientific space exploration, with which she launched a microsatellite development program. In 1994 she received a full professorship.

In November 1999, Kofi appointed Annan Othman Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna. At Mahathir's request, she returned to Malaysia in July 2002 to serve as the founding director of the Malaysian space agency ANGKASA for five years . Othman brought about the launch of the first Malaysian astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor . Ban Ki-moon reinstated Othman as director of UNOOSA in December 2007. At UNOOSA, it is responsible for international cooperation in space, the avoidance of collisions and space debris , the use of remote sensing platforms in space to tackle a far-sighted approach on Earth, the coordination of space law issues between the countries and the defense against Earth Asteroids .

In September 2010 it was reported in various locations that the United Nations was planning to appoint Othman as a contact person for extraterrestrials . The basis of this news seems to be that Othman noted that the United Nations should endeavor to coordinate contacts with extraterrestrials, if it ever comes to them. Your plan to take part in a committee of the Royal Society in October 2010 on the subject of “Towards a scientific and societal agenda on extra-terrestrial life” appears to be taking part To have intensified rumors. A spokesman for the United Nations immediately rejected the relevant reports as nonsensical and asserted that there were no plans to expand the mandate of the UNOOSA. Othman himself wrote in an email to the British daily newspaper The Guardian : “It sounds really cool but I have to deny it.” (“It sounds really cool, but I have to deny it.”)

Private

Othman is married to the geologist Ibrahim Komoo and has two children with him.

Honors

• 1997 Tuanku Ja'afar, the tenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, awarded Othman the state order Panglima Jasa Negara for meritorious work, through which she was awarded the honoring Datuk .

• 1997 The University of Otago awarded her an honorary doctorate in science.

• 2009 The Institute of Physics awarded Othman the medal of their president for “her work in the sense of astronomical education in Malaysia and her pioneering role in the exploration of space on a national and international level”.

Web links

Commons : Mazlan Othman  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Interview with Dr. Mazlan Othman
• Mazlan Othmans CV (PDF; 54 kB) at the Pacific Science Association
• Mazlan Othmans profile ( memento January 5, 2005 on the Internet Archive ) at the National Science Center, Malaysia

Individual evidence

1. ^ Past and Present Heads of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) . Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
2. ^ Our History, University of Otago, New Zealand . Retrieved September 27, 2010.
3. ^ Surface distribution of M stars with different IRAS color . bibcode : 1988Ap & SS.148..239I .
4. ^ ASP: World Beat: Malaysia . 1994. Archived from the original on November 10, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
5. ^ Secretary-General Appoints Mazlan Othman Director of Office for Outer Space Affairs . November 26, 1999. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
6. ^ Mazlan Othman retires as DG of Angkasa on Dec 10 . December 12, 2007. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 30, 2009. 
7. ↑ UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors' . Retrieved September 26, 2010.
8. ↑ United Nations to appoint space ambassador to act as first contact for aliens visiting Earth . Retrieved September 26, 2010.
9. ^ Towards a scientific and societal agenda on extra-terrestrial life . Retrieved September 27, 2010.
10. ^ UN: Reported alien ambassador role is "nonsense" . Archived from the original on September 29, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 27, 2010. 
11. ↑ UN plan for 'alien ambassador' a case of science fiction? . In: The Guardian . Retrieved September 27, 2010.
12. ^ List of Award Recipients . Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
13. ↑ Alumni Profile: Professor Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman . Retrieved May 30, 2009.
14. ↑ 2009 President's Medal . Retrieved March 3, 2010.