Mazlan Binti Othman is a Malaysian Astrophysicist, known for her achievements in Space Science in her role as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Dr. Mazlan is the first woman to earn a Ph.D in physics since University of Otago was founded in 1869. She also performed research at Kiso Observatory in Japan for a semester.
Dr. Mazlan Othman was born in Seremban, Malaysia. After being awarded with a Colombo plan scholarship, she earned her BSc degree with honours at the University of Otago in New Zealand in 1975. She worked at a university in Malaysia as a tutor before she returned to Otago to earn her Ph.D in physics in 1981.
After she returned to Malaysia, Mazlan Othman started a campaign to build awareness and foster understanding of astronomy. She was given the responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Department’s Planetarium Division and later on she became the Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna, as appointed by Kofi Annan.
After her service, between 2010 and 2014, Othman was requested to return to Malaysia by the Prime Minister to work as the Director General of the National Space Agency of Malaysia. Her work here led to the first Malaysian astronaut being launched.
Throughout her career, Othman has extensively dealt with issues that involve the risks posed by near-earth asteroids, space debris collisions and space law between countries.
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