Yesterday, Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth College, was named the next President of the World Bank. Dr. Kim is a world health expert, with extensive experience in two major global killers – tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. He was formerly Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and was a co-founder and executive director of Partners In Health.
The World Bank, a 68-year-old institution developed at the Bretton Woods conference following WWII, gives low-interest loans to developing nations for infrastructure-based projects and capital programs designed to improve economic conditions and encourage investment in the developing world. For instance, the World Bank finances efforts to confront rising sea levels in the Maldives, municipal water projects in Armenia, and health sector programs in Burkina Faso.
Dr. Kim’s victory is expected to breathe life into the organization’s development mission and efforts to combat pandemic disease, along with lingering issues of malnutrition, changing landscapes, and post-conflict reconstruction.
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