Htin Aung, as the rector of the University of Rangoon from 1946 to 1958, was the highest ranking academic in the Burmese education system, at the time.

He was one of the founding fathers of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL).

He was a great-great-grandson of Maha Minhla Mindin Raza, a military officer in the Konbaung court, who fought in the First Anglo-Burmese War.

Htin Aung graduated from Yangon's elite St. Paul's English High School.

His books are widely used in the study of the comparatively under-documented history and culture of Myanmar.