Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer, is set to become the interim leader of Bangladesh, overseeing a temporary government intended to help stabilize the South Asian nation after a month of political violence.

       Mr. Yunus was named to the post on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. He was the choice of the student groups that led the popular uprising against her.

       One of Bangladesh’s best-known citizens, Mr. Yunus was among those Ms. Hasina considered a political threat for years, her critics say. Now, those who ousted her have propelled Mr. Yunus, 84, into one of the most powerful positions in the new government.

       Here’s what to know about Mr. Yunus and his rise in Bangladesh:

       He received the Nobel as a microfinance trailblazer. Mr. Yunus was born in 1940 in the city of Chittagong. He went to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship in the 1960s and received a Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University. He returned to Bangladesh in the early 1970s and launched a project that gave small loans to the poor. In 1983, that service became Grameen Bank.

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       The bank grew steadily in the next decade, and its success, especially in extending loans to women, inspired microfinance projects in dozens of countries and garnered praise from world leaders.

       Mr. Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for what the prize committee described as their efforts to provide financial opportunities to the poor.

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