Thant myint u biography of michael
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His next book, Peacemaker, will be published by W.W. Norton in 2025.
BIOGRAPHY
Thant Myint-U was born 31 January 1966 in New York City and was educated at Harvard (AB '87 in Government and Economics), the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (MA '91 in International Relations and International Economics) and Cambridge University (PhD '96 in History).
He has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia (United Nations Transition Authority in Cambodia 1992-3) and in the former Yugoslavia (United Nations Protection Force 1994-5 and United Nations Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1996), including as the UN's spokesman in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
From 1996-1999 he taught Asian and British imperial history as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was also a Research Associate of the Cambridge Centre for History and Economics.
From 2000-2007 Thant Myint-U worked at the UN Secretariat in New York.
He was educated at Harvard and Cambridge Universities and taught history from 1996 to 2000 as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is also a Senior Fellow of the United Nations Foundation and his latest book, Peacemaker, was published in September 2025.
Thant Myint-U
Thant Myint-U is a writer, historian, conservationist, and international public servant.
He is currently a Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, the Chairman of U Thant House, a leading education and discussion centre in Yangon, Founder and Chairman of the Yangon Heritage Trust, and a Founding Partner of the Ava Advisory Group.
His latest work, Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia (2011), reviews the history of Myanmar as a country situated between two rising powers—China and India—from the viewpoints of people at the bottom of the social pyramid and those living in remote regions close to international borders. Evoking such simple but unforgettable firsthand learnings, he writes accessible history, echoing the unknown, unrecorded, but precious experiences of ordinary people.
In 2010, Dr.
Thant Myint-U relocated his work base from the United States to Yangon, Myanmar. With his unique and distinguished contribution to Asian and human society, Dr. Thant Myint-U is a truly worthy recipient of the Grand Prize of the Fukuoka Prize.
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Thant Myint-U
Non-Resident Senior Fellow
Thant Myint-U is an award-winning author, historian, conservationist, and international public servant.
A recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor, he is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Christ’s College, Cambridge, a senior adviser to the World Bank, and UN special adviser on humanitarian diplomacy. From then, he has frequently returned during holidays with his parents. He was also a senior advisor to the Beyond Ceasefires Initiative, a joint programme between the government and Ethnic Armed Organizations designed to bring external experiences in support of domestic peace negotiations.
In a global sense he has gained respect through his Vice Chairmanship of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on South-East Asia, and through his public lectures such as the one he gave at the United Nations University in Tokyo, promoting intensive dialogue with young people in 2014.
Myanmar is the focus of Asia today.
He also set up and was a Founding Partner of the Ava Advisory Group.
Thant Myint-U is the author of four books: The Making of Modern Burma (2000), the River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma (2006), Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia (2011 and short-listed for the Asia Society's Bernard Schwartz Prize), and The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century (2019), selected one of Foreign Affairs magazine's Top Books of 2020 and as a New York Times Critics Top Books of 2019.
He has also written several book chapters and monographs, as well as articles for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the London Review of Books, the Nikkei Asian Review, and many other publications.
In December 2013 Thant Myint-U was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers" for the year, and in April 2014 was voted 15th in an online poll from Prospect Magazine's list of 50 "World Thinkers".
The book has been translated into Japanese and won the 26th Asia Pacific Award Special Prize (sponsored by the Asian Affairs Research Council and Mainichi Newspapers) in 2014.
As a historian, Dr. Thant Myint-U has a unique perspective as well as his own original writing style. Thant Myint-U is an exceptionally outstanding historian in contemporary Asia, writing accessible history of his ancestral homeland, Myanmar (Burma).
During this time he also established the Yangon Heritage Trust to protect the city’s architectural heritage and encourage new ideas in urban planning.
Thant Myint-U is the author of four books: The Making of Modern Burma (2000), the River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma (2006), Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia (2011 and short-listed for the Asia Society’s Bernard Schwartz Prize), and The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century (2019).
How will they manage future development? He has been able to connect with a wide range of people, including top government officials, in order to tackle the challenges of his society and of the international community. Previous fellowship affiliations include Harvard, the International Peace Institute, and the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Previously he has served on three United Nations peacekeeping operations, in Cambodia (United Nations Transition Authority in Cambodia 1992-3) and in the former Yugoslavia (United Nations Protection Force 1994-5 and United Nations Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1996), including as the UN’s spokesman in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
He has also worked for the UN Secretariat in New York, from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Political Affairs and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, to being the Chief of the Policy Planning Unit in the Department of Political Affairs and as the Senior Officer attached to the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change.
In 2012, Thant Myint-U was appointed a member of the President of Myanmar’s National Economic and Social Advisory Council and a special advisor at the Myanmar Peace Center, the body responsible for the 2011-2015 peace process and the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.
Born as a grandson of the third UN Secretary-General, U Thant, he first set foot in his ancestral homeland when he was eight years old to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Dr. Thant Myint-U is a distinguished intellectual of 21st century Asia, narrating the voices of the people of Myanmar and connecting them with the wider international community.
The details of title, age, career and award citation are at the time of announcement of the Prize.
Award Citation
Dr.
In his next work, The River of Lost Footsteps (2006), he describes the history of Burma from multiple angles, tracing the footsteps of various Burmese people, including those of his own family. He was also the Senior Officer attached to the Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change, formed in the aftermath of the Iraq War, whose recommendations on issues from counter-terrorism to nuclear non-proliferation, to mediation and peacekeeping, led to the 2005 World Summit.
From 2007-2011 Thant Myint-U held visiting fellowships at Harvard, the International Peace Institute in New York, and the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
During this time he was also deeply involved in efforts related to reform in Burma (Myanmar), working with international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and others, in particular on issues related to humanitarian access in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and the transition from military dictatorship.