Obama Names World Bank Nominee

President Barack Obama has nominated Dartmouth College president Jim Yong Kim as the next leader of the World Bank, the White House announced on Friday.

Dr. Kim, a physician born in Korea, was a co-founder of Partners in Health, and also led the World Health Organization’s department of HIV/AIDS. He has been president of Dartmouth College for nearly three years. If his nomination is successful, Dr. Kim will take over from outgoing World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

According to news reports, other leading candidates for the top post include Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is former managing director of the World Bank. The United States has held the presidency of the World Bank since its creation after World War II.

Read the White House statement on the announcement plus some early reactions to the choice.

For more information, see the full articles on the Huffington Post and the New York Times.