Two candidates were in the race for becoming the next World Bank
president: Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and
American-Korean Dartmouth University president Jim Yong Kim. In a
public statement today, the World Bank announced that
Kim will become its next president.
Kim has a strong academic background having lectured at Harvard
Medical School between 1993 and 2009 after which he became
president of the American Dartmouth University. In the meantime, he
built his reputation as health expert when he joined the WHO (World
Health Organization) where he became director of the HIV/AIDS
department.
Top researcher and leader
The 52-year-old was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the
U.S. when he was 5. He spent his university education at the Ivy
League universities Brown and Harvard where he earned a medical
doctorate in 1991 and a Ph.D. in 1993.
In its announcement the World Bank highlighted that "Kim was
named one of America's "25 Best Leaders" by US News & World
Report (2005), and was selected as one of TIME magazine's "100 Most
Influential People in the World" (2006). He was elected in 2004 to
the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences-one
of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine-for his
professional achievements and commitment to service. He has
published widely over the past two decades, authoring or
co-authoring articles for leading academic and scientific journals,
including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, and Science.
"
Educator's angle on world issues
In a statement to the World Bank Board of Directors
Kim talked about how his experience as a university leader and
academic would make him the perfect candidate for the job:
"As President of Dartmouth - a leading knowledge institution
with a medical school, a business school, an engineering school,
and about 4,500 employees - I managed an $820 million budget,
oversaw a $3.5 billion endowment and made necessary cuts in the
institution's budget at a time of reduced investment returns, while
protecting the quality of both research and teaching."
"I understand the very difficult choices that confront
institutions with declining or flat administrative budgets, and
would work closely with the Board to ensure that we safeguard the
Bank's sound financial model and considerable pool of talent, while
ensuring the Bank can achieve its mandate."
"As an educator, today, I am deeply concerned about the high
levels of unemployment and skill mismatches facing young people.
Young men and women worldwide are vulnerable, underemployed or
unemployed and feel disconnected from systems they feel no longer
work well for them. They need opportunity, skills and access to
capital. This is an urgent priority."