In a statement issued Friday in the Rose Garden, President Obama announced the nomination of Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim to be the next president of the World Bank, replacing outgoing president Robert Zoellick, who is to retire June 30.

During his remarks, Obama noted, "It’s time for a development professional to lead the world’s largest development agency."

Kim, a physician and anthropologist by training, has been president of the Ivy League institution since July 2009. During his time at Dartmouth he has established a center for health care delivery service, and has attempted to heighten awareness about development issues. While personally popular, his administration has been occasionally been criticized for a perceived lack of transparency and indifference towards student life concerns.

Prior to his Dartmouth tenure, Kim co-founded and led Harvard University's Global Health Delivery Project. From 2004 to 2006 he was director of the World Health Organization's HIV/AIDS unit. Along with Paul Farmer, the subject of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, he is one of the co-founders of the humanitarian aid group Partner in Health. Kim received one of the MacArthur Foundation's 'genius grants' in 2003.

Obama's nomination of Kim comes as a surprise to World Bank watchers. Some had predicted UN ambassador Susan Rice, Columbia economist Jeffrey Sachs, or even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Since the post-World War II creation of the Bretton Woods institutions, the presidency of the World Bank has traditionally gone to an American while the IMF is run by a European. This is not an automatic selection, as the presidency of the Bank is ultimately voted on by its board, comprised of representatives from different member countries. 

In more recent years, representatives of emergent economies have pushed for an end to the informal 'gentlemen's agreement,' by nominating consensus candidates of their own. 

Nigeria, South Africa and Angola have joined to nominate Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the post. Okonjo-Iweala has served twice as Nigerian finance minister, and was managing director of the World Bank from 2007 to 2011. During her first stint as finace minister, she led efforts to fight corruption and reform the country's civil service. She holds a Ph.D. in regional economic development from MIT.

Brazil had earlier floated suggestions to nominate Columbia's former finance minister Jose Ocampo as a candidate, but recent reports suggest that Columbia is reluctant to do so, instead preferring to focus on a bid for the presidency of the International Labor Organization.