Aníbal Buitrón Cháves (January 22, 1914 – July 28, 2001) was Ecuador’s first professionally trained anthropologist, earning a Master's degree at the University of Chicago in 1950.
In 1941 he was asked to assist American anthropologists Donald Collier and John Mura in an archeological survey of Ecuador.
He helped organize and develop the Instituto Ecuatoriano de Antropologia y Geografia, and as head of the Anthropology division initiated as series of studies of representative rural communities in the highlands and on the coast of Ecuador.
The town of Otavalo took the name "El Valle del Amanecer” as its slogan and Aníbal became known as Ecuador’s first professional anthropologist.
In 1958 he spent 2 1/2 years in Patzcuaro, Mexico as the Deputy Director of the Regional Center for Fundamental Education, training community development workers from throughout Latin America.