In a surprise move, President Barack Obama is nominating Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank. The announcement will be made by Obama, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton-who first recommended Kim for the post-in the Rose Garden later today.
The actual decision will be made in April by the World Bank's 25-member board. Since the organization's founding in 1944, an American has always been president, perhaps influenced by the fact that the United States has the largest share of the vote on the board because of the size of its economy. Developing countries are expected to put forward at least three nominees. Kim will soon depart for a global tour to rally support for his nomination. Many expected Obama to nominate United Nations ambassador Susan Rice, Senator John Kerry, or former National Economic Council director Larry Summers instead of the Dartmouth president, who is the first Asian-American to be president of an Ivy League university. Kim co-founded the global health organization Partners in Health with Paul Farmer, and was director of the World Health Organization's HIV/AIDS department.
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Tomorrow is the National Day of Unplugging, so why don't you plan to turn off the computer and go enjoy the cherry blossoms and sunshine?
