Jim Yong Kim Success Story: World Bank President

Jim Yong Kim is a major success story; he came from humble beginnings to become the president of the World Bank and has achieved many other major personal accomplishments.

Early Life and Education

Born Dec. 8, 1959 in Seoul, South Korea as Kim Yong, he moved with his family to the United States at the age of 5 and was raised in Muscatine, Iowa. His mother received a PhD in philosophy from the University of Iowa, where his father taught dentistry. It was during his youth that he changed the order of his name to Yong Kim in line with Western style and added the name Jim.

He attended Muscatine High School, where he joined the Model UN, a simulated, educational mock of the United Nations; played on the basketball and football teams; and graduated as valedictorian in 1978. Kim began his college education at the University of Iowa, and then transferred to Brown University his sophomore year, graduating magna cum laude in 1982 with a human biology bachelor’s degree. Following this, he attended Harvard University for graduate work, obtaining a medical degree in 1991 and a PhD in anthropology in 1993. His time at Harvard allowed him to befriend Paul Farmer, who shared Kim's interest in global health issues.

Success Story

In 1987, Kim’s passion for working in the health care sector and his friendship with Paul Farmer led to the pair cofounding a Boston-based organization called Partners in Health, or PIH, providing medical care to poor regions.

In the mid-1990s, Kim also served as the leader for pioneering work with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, or MDR TB, patients living in Carabayllo, Peru. An outgrowth of this work allowed Kim to lead a successful campaign to reduce the cost of MDR TB treatments. This effort was then later applied to AIDS treatments. He was awarded the MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 2003.

From 2003 to 2004, Kim served as an adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization, or WHO. He served as the director of its HIV/AIDS department from 2004 to 2005, during which he led the “3 by 5” initiative, which sought to provide antiretroviral drugs to 3 million new HIV and AIDS patients around the world by 2005.

Kim taught at Harvard Medical School from 1993 to 2009, when he was named president of Dartmouth College. Then, in March of 2012, President Barack Obama nominated him for the presidency of the World Bank. His background and experience in working with poor communities and development issues were considered Kim's primary assets and qualifications for the position.

Net Worth & Current Influence

Kim was confirmed as the World Bank president in April of 2012 and took office in July of the same year. His influence in the education and health care fields have led to commentary that he is the ideal choice for his current position. His experience with service to poor and developing nations is his biggest influence is providing advice on the distribution of aid to such nations. Upon taking office at the World Bank, his stated priorities were to create more support programs for the poor and to identify and foster emerging markets.

In 2015, Forbes magazine ranked Kim as the 45th most powerful person in the world.

Most Influential Quotes

“Economic development and poverty alleviation are so complicated that I don't think there's a single background or a single discipline that is sufficient to tackle these great human problems.” Kim said this statement in reference to questioning on whether his personal lack of background in finance would affect his ability to lead the World Bank.

“I want to eradicate poverty. I think that there is a tremendous passion for that inside the World Bank.” This statement displays Kim’s commitment to his primary goals while working as head of the World Bank. These are goals consistent with his lifetime of work helping to aid poor and developing nations.