Jim Yong Kim, who was named the new president of the World Bank on Monday, has excelled at seemingly everything he's attempted in life. The World Bank governing board backed 52-year-old the physician, who holds an additional doctorate in anthropology. Kim was widely expected to be chosen by the development lender's board of directors, but the US candidate had for the first time faced a challenge from candidates from the developing world. Last week, the board interviewed three candidates, Kim, José Antonio Ocampo of Colombia and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, to replace World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Ocampo had withdrawn his candidacy Friday, citing lack of support from his own government. Kim, the current president of a prestigious Ivy League college, has distinguished careers in academia and public health, with major contributions to fighting tuberculosis and AIDS, two of the most serious diseases plaguing developing countries.
