Jim Yong Kim to Be Named to World Bank Post

President Barack Obama picked Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim as the U.S. nominee to lead the World Bank, choosing a global-health expert to head the development institution. Dr. Kim, an American physician who was born in South Korea, moved to and raised in Iowa at five.

"Jim has spent more than two decades working to improve conditions in developing countries around the world," Mr. Obama said Friday. "It's time for a development professional to lead the world's largest development agency." Dr. Kim, 52, became Dartmouth's president in July 2009. He is a former director of the Department of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization, where he launched an initiative to treat 3 million patients living with HIV. He holds a medical degree and a doctorate in anthropology, both from Harvard University, and an undergraduate degree from Brown University.

The White House's pick is nearly certain to become the next World Bank president after its current leader, Robert Zoellick, steps down as planned in late June after a five-year term.

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