Stanley Ann Dunham (November 29, 1942 – November 7, 1995) was an American anthropologist who specialized in the economic anthropology and rural development of Indonesia. She was the mother of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. Dunham was known as Stanley Ann Dunham through high school, then as Ann Dunham, Ann Obama, Ann Soetoro, a.k.a. Ann Sutoro, and resumed her maiden name, Ann Dunham, later in life.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, Dunham studied at the East–West Center and at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Honolulu, where she attained a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology (1967), and later received master of arts (1974) and PhD (1992) degrees, also in anthropology. She also attended the University of Washington in Seattle from 1961 to 1962. Interested in craftsmanship, weaving, and the role of women in cottage industries, Dunham's research focused on women's work on the island of Java and blacksmithing in Indonesia. To address the problem of poverty in rural villages, she created microcredit programs while working as a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development. Dunham was also employed by the Ford Foundation in Jakarta and she consulted with the Asian Development Bank in Gujranwala, Pakistan. Towards the latter part of her life, she worked with Bank Rakyat Indonesia, where she helped apply her research to the largest microfinance program in the world.After her son was elected president, interest renewed in Dunham's work: the University of Hawaiʻi held a symposium about her research; an exhibition of Dunham's Indonesian batik textile collection toured the United States; and in December 2009, Duke University Press published Surviving against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia, a book based on Dunham's original 1992 dissertation. Janny Scott, an author and former New York Times reporter, published a biography of her titled A Singular Woman in 2011. Posthumous interest has also led to the creation of the Ann Dunham Soetoro Endowment in the Anthropology Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, as well as the Ann Dunham Soetoro Graduate Fellowships, intended to fund students associated with the East–West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.In an interview, Barack Obama referred to his mother as "the dominant figure in my formative years ... The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics."
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Some of their strengths
Ann Dunham has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Adventurous, Energetic, Insightful, Generous, Honest, Bold, and Confident.
Adventurous and Independent
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Ann Dunham is someone who is an adventurous, independent, and energetic person, who is insightful, imaginative, generous, and honest. A person who is charismatic and resourceful.
Passionate and Intense
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Ann Dunham well know them as someone who can be passionate, proud, and intense, like the sun or a blazing fire.
Ambitious and Forceful
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Ann Dunham as someone who is ambitious, hard-working, determined, and intelligent.
A person who has a knack for identifying opportunities, has amazing concentration and focus, who can work independently, who likes starting new things, and who is somewhat of an intellectual.
Justice-seeking and Insightful
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Ann Dunham is someone who tends to be intolerant of unfairness in life, and who has an uncanny ability to reveal the truth in any situation.
They are also someone who is intuitive, imaginative, and an agent of change, and who is always dreaming of life's great possibilities and partnering with people to try to achieve those possibilities.
Optimistic and Quick-witted
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Ann Dunham tends to be someone who is optimistic and spontaneous, and who has a clear and analytical mind. Who can be witty, with a happy-go-lucky- nature that makes others cheerful, and who possesses an adventurous zest for life.
Some of Ann Dunham's challenges
While Ann Dunham has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Ann Dunham can be Stubborn, Impulsive, Careless, Arrogant, Status-seeking, Relentless, and Inflexible.
Impulsive and Careless
One of Ann Dunham's key challenges is that they are someone who can be impulsive and careless.
Ann Dunham must also exercise caution as they can have difficulty dealing with responsibility, authority, or criticism.
Relentless and Inflexible
Ann Dunham is someone who can be relentless, obsessive, and inflexible, who can be confrontational with work colleagues, can have difficulty communicating feelings and be somewhat reclusive, and who can be self-destructive, overindulgent, and extravagant.
Irritable and Callous
Finally, Ann Dunham also can be short-tempered, childish, insensitive, and careless at times.
