WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday named Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth College and a global health expert, as its nominee to lead the World Bank.
That makes Dr. Kim the front-runner to take the helm of the multinational development institution on June 30, when its current president, Robert B. Zoellick, will step down at the end of his five-year term. Tradition has held that Washington selects the head of the World Bank and Europe the leader of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, since they were founded during World War II.
Dr. Kim’s name was not among those widely bandied about since Mr. Zoellick announced his plans to move on last month. Highly respected among aid experts, Dr. Kim is an anthropologist and a physician who co-founded Partners in Health, a nonprofit that provides health care for the poor, and a former director of the department of H.I.V./AIDS at the World Health Organization.
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.
The White House has selected the World Bank president since the institution was created in 1944 under an informal agreement with European nations, who pick the head of the International Monetary Fund. The combined shares of U.S. and European nations in each organization make it nearly impossible for a candidate from other nationalities to break the unwritten compact.
The World Bank's board, which represents its 187 member nations, plans to meet next week to consider nominations and issue a shortlist of three people to interview. It plans to make a final decision ahead of the bank's spring meeting next month.
The White House announcement came as the nominations window was set to close on Friday. The decision to wait until late in the process allowed other nations to discuss their own candidates, creating the first competitive race in the bank's history. But the delay also stoked criticism of the U.S. based on early reports of whom the White House was considering.
The U.S. shortlist included Lawrence Summers, a former World Bank chief economist who served as a top economic adviser to Mr. Obama, and Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Both officials are considered potential appointees in a second Obama administration, an administration official said Friday.
Dr. Kim, before heading to Dartmouth, led the global-health and social-medicine department at Harvard Medical School. At the World Health Organization, he focused on helping developing countries improve AIDS treatment and prevention programs. He has also worked on tuberculosis, including efforts to cut the cost of treatment and finding treatments for drug-resistant strains.
That makes Dr. Kim the front-runner to take the helm of the multinational development institution on June 30, when its current president, Robert B. Zoellick, will step down at the end of his five-year term. Tradition has held that Washington selects the head of the World Bank and Europe the leader of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund, since they were founded during World War II.
Dr. Kim’s name was not among those widely bandied about since Mr. Zoellick announced his plans to move on last month. Highly respected among aid experts, Dr. Kim is an anthropologist and a physician who co-founded Partners in Health, a nonprofit that provides health care for the poor, and a former director of the department of H.I.V./AIDS at the World Health Organization.
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.
The White House has selected the World Bank president since the institution was created in 1944 under an informal agreement with European nations, who pick the head of the International Monetary Fund. The combined shares of U.S. and European nations in each organization make it nearly impossible for a candidate from other nationalities to break the unwritten compact.
The World Bank's board, which represents its 187 member nations, plans to meet next week to consider nominations and issue a shortlist of three people to interview. It plans to make a final decision ahead of the bank's spring meeting next month.
The White House announcement came as the nominations window was set to close on Friday. The decision to wait until late in the process allowed other nations to discuss their own candidates, creating the first competitive race in the bank's history. But the delay also stoked criticism of the U.S. based on early reports of whom the White House was considering.
The U.S. shortlist included Lawrence Summers, a former World Bank chief economist who served as a top economic adviser to Mr. Obama, and Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Both officials are considered potential appointees in a second Obama administration, an administration official said Friday.
Dr. Kim, before heading to Dartmouth, led the global-health and social-medicine department at Harvard Medical School. At the World Health Organization, he focused on helping developing countries improve AIDS treatment and prevention programs. He has also worked on tuberculosis, including efforts to cut the cost of treatment and finding treatments for drug-resistant strains.
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