WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Kim Named Next Dartmouth College President

The board of Trustees at Dartmouth College announced the successor to outgoing college President James Wright.

Dr. Jim Yong Kim will become Dartmouth's 17th president this July. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Kim has traveled the world promoting global health and is well known for his leadership in the fight against HIV and tuberculosis. He is also a founding trustee and the former executive director of Partners In Health, a not-for-profit organization that supports a range of health programs in poor countries.

"I've worked in global health, but domestic health care and higher education are all areas where we can really pave the way for innovations for executing around social aims. We have not done well in executing around social aims; health care, education, social welfare. And it is often thought that it is impossible to do so. I think Dartmouth has already shown that executing around its higher education aims are among the best in the world at doing that. I think we can build on that," Kim said.

When Kim officially takes office this July he will become the first Asian-American to be appointed president of an Ivy League School. He is married with two young children.

Current President James Wright announced last year that he would retire in June.

Adam Sullivan - WCAX News