President Obama has nominated Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim to become the next president of the World Bank. Kim co-founded Partners in Health with Dr. Paul Farmer and is well known among development experts for his work in fighting HIV/AIDS. President Obama announced Kim’s nomination on Friday.

President Obama: “I believe that nobody is more qualified to carry out that mission than Dr. Jim Kim. It’s time for a development professional to lead the world’s largest development agency. And that’s why today, after a careful and thorough search, I am nominating Dr. Jim Kim to be the next president of the World Bank.”

Washington’s hold on the World Bank presidency is being contested for the first time by candidates from Africa and South America. Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian Finance Minister José Antonio Ocampo have also been nominated for the post.