Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali

On 18 December 2020, women's magazine Nona presented Siti Hasmah with the Nona Superwoman Award 2020.

She again served as the wife of the prime minister after her husband was reappointed on May 10, 2018.

In 2018, Perdana University conferred on her the Honorary Doctor of Philosophy Degree for Women and Community Development.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia., as well as several Heads of States, have bestowed titles upon her. In 2003, she was conferred the highest honorary title of Tun along with her husband, Dr Mahathir, by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

On 20 June 1997 she was appointed as the Chancellor, Multimedia University (MMU) and patrons MESCORP.

Eventually, in November 1996, she took over the presidency of the International Steering Committee for Economic Advancement of Rural and Island Women for Asia Pacific Region.

In February 1994, Siti Hasmah attended the ISC Council Meeting in Brussels at the invitation of Queen Fabiola. Then, in September 1995, she was appointed as Chairperson of Regional Steering Committee on the Economic Advancement of Rural and Island Women for Asia Pacific Region.

In May 1994, Indiana University, Bloomington conferred on Siti Hasmah the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and in August the same year, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Siti Hasmah was also active internationally in promoting the cause of rural women. In 1992, at the invitation of Queen Fabiola of Belgium, she attended the First Ladies Summit for the Economic Advancement of Rural Women in Geneva. She was chosen as one of the six Core-Group Initiators of First Ladies representing the Asia-Pacific Region.

In 1992, the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland, conferred on her the Honorary Doctorate in Public Health.

In 1991, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia conferred on her the Honorary Doctorate in Medical Science.

In 1988, she was awarded the Kazue McLaren Award by the Asia Pacific Consortium for Public Health.

As President of BAKTI (Welfare Club of the Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers), Siti Hasmah was active in efforts to educate young people about the dangers of drug abuse. In 1985, at the invitation of United States First Lady Nancy Reagan, she attended the First Ladies' Conference on Drug Abuse in Washington D.C. She also represented Malaysia at the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Vienna in 1987.

As Patron of the Pan Pacific South Asia Women's Association, (PPSEAWA) Malaysia, Siti Hasmah attended and presented keynote addresses at the Triennial Conferences in Tokyo (1984), Bangkok (1991) and Tonga (1994).

Siti Hasmah became the wife of Malaysia prime minister following the appointment of her husband as Prime Minister in 1981.

Ten years later, she became the first woman to be appointed Medical Officer in the Maternal and Child Health Department, and in 1974, she was the first woman to be appointed the State Maternal and Child Health Officer. She is also the author of several articles on family medicine and the socioeconomic factors associated with pregnancy and childbearing in Malaysia.

In 1966, she attended a public health certificate program at the School of Public Health, the University of Michigan.

In 1955 she graduated as a medical doctor from the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, which was then located in Singapore. She subsequently joined the government health service. She was one of the first Malay woman doctors in then Malaya. She married Mahathir the following year in August. They have seven children, Marina, Mirzan, Melinda, Mokhzani, Mukhriz, Maizura and Mazhar.

Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah binti Haji Mohamad Ali (Jawi: سيتي حسمه بنت محمد علي; born 12 July 1926) is the spouse and wife of Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. She played the role of Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia from July 1981 to October 2003 and from May 2018 to March 2020 for almost 24 years. She is the oldest-living person of the role. She was also the former chancellor of the Multimedia University of Malaysia.

Born in Klang, Selangor on 12 July 1926, Siti Hasmah is an ethnic Malay (retired) physician of Minangkabau descent from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. She schooled in SMK St. Mary. She obtained her MBBS from the University of Malaya in Singapore. Tun Siti Hasmah was one of the first Malay women to enroll for a medical course at the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore (now the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine) after World War II.