The World Bank of Directors today elected Dr. Jim Yong Kim to serve as president and will be leading World Bank on a five-year term.
Dr. Kim is set to assume his new post on July 1, 2012.
Reports say the selection of the World Bank president has been reportedly challenged by third world countries arguing non-American candidates should also be given a chance to take the post.
Dr. Kim is an American of Korean descent. He has worked as the director of the Department of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization (WHO).
In addition, he also co-founded Partners in Health (PIH), a Massachusetts-based non-profit health care organization that provides health care to the less fortunate individuals.
Reports say Dr. Kim is highly-supported by the U.S. government.
Two other nominees also sought the job. They are Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Jose Antonio Ocampo, a former Colombian finance minister.
The United States of America today congratulates Dr. Kim as the new president of World Bank.
In her remarks at DC, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Dr. Kim is an excellent selection to lead the World Bank forward, build consensus with donor and borrowing countries, and encourage the increasingly important leadership role of developing countries.
Dr. Kim has demonstrated a deep commitment to solving some of the most pressing challenges the world faces, Ms. Clinton added.
Dr. Kim has he has worked to fight disease and hunger by pioneering innovative solutions and investing in people and communities for over 25 years.
The US government is looking forward to working with Dr. Kim as he shapes an even stronger World Bank.
“Together, we will help develop economies, build partnerships, and alleviate poverty.” -Ms. Clinton
On September 2009, global health pioneer Dr. Jim Yong Kim was inaugurated as the 17th President of Dartmouth College. A physician, educator and infectious disease expert, Dr. Kim also held professorships at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. He also served as chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Kim was born in 1959 in Seoul in South Korea. Dr. Kim moved with his family to the United States at the age of five. Hed grew up in Muscatine, Iowa. He graduated with flying colors as magna cum laude from Brown University in 1982.
Dr. Kim earned his medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School in 1991 and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University in 1993. He is married to Dr. Younsook Lim, a pediatrician and they have two young sons.
On March this year, President Obama announced Dr. Jim Yong Kim as nominee to lead World Bank.
