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Jim Yong Kim /Bloomberg
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A Korean-American has been elected president of an Ivy League school in the United States, the first time in the more than 200-year history of the top U.S. universities that an Asian, let alone a Korean-American, has been elected president.
The Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College on Monday announced the appointment of Kim Yong, aka Jim Yong Kim (49), chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as its 17th president. Along with Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia, Dartmouth is among the eight Ivy League schools on the east coast.
In a telephone interview with the Chosun Ilbo, Kim said a kid who went over to the United States when he was five has become the president of a U.S. Ivy League school. He said he wished to share the honor with the people of Korea. Kim, who begins his tenure on July 1, in a speech said he took on the role of teaching and guiding young people, who have the potential to have far more influence in the world than he, because he realized the limitations of individuals in influencing the world.
Ed Haldeman, the chair of Dartmouth's Board of Trustees, said, "Jim Yong Kim embodies the ideals of learning, innovation, and service that lie at the heart of Dartmouth's mission." Since June last year, Dartmouth had been reviewing around 400 candidates for the position.
Asked about the secret of his success, Kim said there is an old American saying that choosing the right parents is the most important factor to being successful.
Kim added that Dartmouth does not consider the financial situation of applicants in the admission process and its policy is to offer scholarships to students regardless of their nationality if they are highly qualified. He said this could provide good opportunities for Korean students who come from underprivileged families and added he will continue to push ahead with that policy as the president of the college.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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