A LONG-TIME contributing editor to The Myanmar Times and a prominent Myanmar scholar, Dr Sein Tu, passed away on August 21 at the age of 79 at Bahosi Special Clinic in Yangon, following his wife Daw Mya Mya Khin’s death 11 weeks earlier.

Born in 1929 to U Ba Tu and Daw Mya Kyi, Dr Sein Tu was the youngest of five siblings. He graduated with a BA (Hons) in psychology from Rangoon University in 1950 and obtained his MA degree in educational psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York in 1952. He went on to earn a PhD in social psychology from Harvard University in 1957.

In 1953 Dr Sein Tu returned to Myanmar from the US. After working for about one year at Rangoon University, he was promoted to professor of psychology at the University of Mandalay, where he worked as a professor of philosophy and psychology from 1958 until his retirement in 1984.

He was a member of the Myanmar Arts and Science Academy and was the author of several scientific publications and books, including The Lokaniti, The Shwedagon, Symbol of Strength and Serenity and Large Mammals of Myanmar.

He had contributed articles in English to The Myanmar Times since its launch in 2000. Dr Sein Tu is survived by two children and four grandchildren.