WASHINGTON, March 23, 2012- President Obama announced the United States’ nomination of Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to be President of the World Bank today. The World Bank, a $57 billion lender, serves a source of financial and technical assistance for developing countries to reduce poverty and increase development.
“Jim has spent more than two decades working to improve conditions in developing countries around the world,” said President Obama. “The World Bank is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce poverty and raise standards of living around the globe, and Jim’s personal experience and years of service make him an ideal candidate for this job.”
Born in Seoul, Korea, President Kim moved to the United States at the age of five and is a graduate of Harvard Medical School. As Director of the World Health Organization’s Department of HIV/AIDS, Kim launched the “3 by 5” initiative, which sought to treat 3 million patients living with HIV. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine in 2004 and served as the President of Dartmouth College since 2009.
Kim would succeed Robert Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative, in June. The board of the World Bank is scheduled to make a decision by April 20.
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