Dr. Than Tun (Burmese: သန်းထွန်း, pronounced: [θáɴ tʰʊ́ɴ]; 6 April 1923 – 30 November 2005) was an influential Burmese historian as well as an outspoken critic of the military junta of Burma. For his lifelong contributions to the development of worldwide study of Burmese history and culture, Professor Than Tun was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2000.

A native of Daunggyi Village, Ngathaingchaung/Yeikyi Township, Irrawaddy Division, Than Tun entered Rangoon University in 1939, and received bachelors degrees in history and law in 1946 and 1948, respectively and an MA in history in 1950. In 1956, he received his PhD in history with a paper on “Buddhism in Pagan Period" from University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Dr. Than Tun became a lecturer in University of Rangoon’s Department of History and Political Science in 1959. In 1965, he was promoted to the Professor and Head of Department in History at University of Mandalay. Professor Than Tun left Mandalay in 1982 for University of Tokyo’s Department of South East Asian Studies where he was a Research Fellow and Visiting Professor from 1982 to 1987. Later, he was a visiting professor in Northern Illinois University where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature in 1988. From 1989 to 1990, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan. In 1990 he came back to Burma and worked as a Member of the Myanmar (Burmese) Historical Commission and Emeritus Professor in University of Yangon in the Departments of History and Archeology.

Ko Lay (Burmese: ကိုလေး, pronounced: [kò lé]; born 31 October 1931) was mayor of Yangon from 1988 to 2003.