Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jim Yong Kim has one of the most quietly remarkable resumes I've come across. A physician and anthropologist who co-founded Partners In Health, chaired global health at Harvard Medical School, and then led the World Bank from 2012 to 2019 is someone who refused to pick between medicine and policy. Born in Seoul and shaped in the United States, he's a MacArthur Fellow on top of it all, which tells me the recognition came early and from his peers. I find his trajectory inspiring precisely because he kept aiming the same goal, improving health for the poorest, at ever larger institutions.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jim Yong Kim
- Name (Japanese)
- ジム・ヨン・キム
- Reading
- じむ・よん・きむ
- Born
- December 8, 1959 (age 66)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Boar
- Origin
- Seoul, South Korea
- Occupation
- physician / anthropologist / politician / university teacher
2. Background
- High school
- Muscatine High School
- University
- Brown University
Awards & achievements
- MacArthur Fellows Program
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2013 Prince Mahidol Award
- 2009 Great Immigrants Award
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Jim Yong Kim born?
Born December 8, 1959 (age 66).
Where is Jim Yong Kim from?
Jim Yong Kim is from Seoul, South Korea.
What does Jim Yong Kim do?
Jim Yong Kim works as physician, anthropologist, politician, university teacher.
Physician — see all → · Anthropologist — see all → · More people from South Korea →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.