[3] Born in Seoul, South Korea in 1959, Jim Yong Kim immigrated with his family to the U.S. at the age of five and grew up in Muscatine, Iowa.

The organization began with new, community-focused health care programs in Haiti, which provided treatments based on local needs and trained community members to implement them.

Kim oversaw all of WHO's work related to HIV/AIDS, focusing on initiatives to help developing countries scale up their treatment, prevention, and care programs.

This included an ambitious "3x5 initiative" designed to put three million people in developing countries on AIDS treatment by the end of 2005.

An expert on tuberculosis, Kim also chaired or served on a number of committees on international TB policy.

He oversaw the development of several innovative programs at Dartmouth, utilizing his past experience in health care and international affairs.

[23][24] In May 2010, Kim helped secure a $35 million anonymous grant to establish the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science.

The Center creates a groundbreaking new field of graduate study, fostering international collaboration between researchers and medical practitioners to design, implement, and scale new models of high-quality low-cost care.

[28][29] In 2011, Kim was criticized for refusing to release the college's budget, prompting the passage of a resolution by faculty demanding more details.

[30][31] He answered this criticism by releasing a large supplementary report on the budget and holding a public meeting with faculty, who expressed satisfaction with the response.

[40] That same day Kim sent a letter addressed to the Dartmouth community stating that the position was "one of the most critical institutions fighting poverty and providing assistance to developing countries in the world today.

After much reflection, I have accepted this nomination to national and global service" and that "if I am elected, our Board will take appropriate steps to ensure continuity of leadership and determine the timing of a search.

[42] He was the first Bank leader whose professional background is not in the political or financial sectors, and the first to have previous experience personally tackling health issues in developing countries.

[43] In a statement from Kim regarding his election as the president, he said that the World Bank would deliver more powerful results to support sustained growth, prioritize evidence-based solutions over ideology, and amplify the voices of developing countries.