Ann Dunham was an American anthropologist and played a major role in the rural development of Indonesia. She specialized in economic anthropology. However, she is best known as the mother of the 44th American president, Barack Obama. Dunham studied at the ‘University of Hawaii’ and graduated with a ‘Bachelor of Arts’ degree in anthropology. She was mostly interested in craftsmanship and weaving. She wished to find out ways in which cotton industries could uplift and empower women, especially in an underdeveloped country such as Indonesia. She also worked for the ‘United States Agency for International Development’ and created several microcredit programs in order to eradicate poverty in rural areas. She also worked in Pakistan for some time and spent the last few years of her life working with ‘Bank Rakyat Indonesia.’ There, she associated herself with the largest microfinance program in the world. She met Barack Obama Sr. while attending a Russian class in Hawaii in the early 60s. In 1961, she gave birth to Barack Obama II, who eventually went on to become the first black president of the United States. Her work mostly went unnoticed, until Obama moved into ‘The White House.’ Ann died of cancer in 1995.