GROWING UP
At the announcement of his presidency on Monday, Kim began his address by thanking his parents, citing them as a major influence in his life. His father, Nhak Hee Kim, taught at a dentistry school in Seoul and his mother, Oaksook Kim, was a professor at the largest women's university in Korea, Kim said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Although his older brother was born in the United States, Kim and his younger sister, Heidi, were born in South Korea.
"We were doing okay, but we came here because they felt the political situation in Korea was unstable, and they felt that the greatest opportunity for us as kids to reach our potential [was in the United States]," Kim said in the interview.
The family moved to Dallas, Texas, when Kim was five years old and relocated to Muscatine, Iowa, where Kim grew up, after Kim finished first grade. His father taught at the University of Iowa, where his mother received her doctorate in philosophy.
Kim said his family was among only two Asian American families living in Muscatine and that there were few other Asian families in the state.
Despite his "very American upbringing," during which he completely forgot the Korean language, Kim said he was often aware of his cultural differences. Peers would approach Kim in the mall and make fake karate moves, and on the basketball court, other athletes would spit on him, Kim told Brown University Alumni Magazine in 2006.
EDUCATION
As a student at Muscatine High School, Kim was involved in several extracurricular activities and did well academically. Head of Student Services Keith Pogemiller, who came to the school a few months after Kim graduated, said he knew of Kim because teachers continued to praise him even by the time Pogemiller arrived. Pogemiller said the teachers described Kim as intelligent and outgoing, noting that Kim was one of the high school's valedictorians in 1978 and played basketball and football.
Kim began his college career at the University of Iowa after receiving an engineering scholarship. The summer before he started college, Kim attended a science program, where peers encouraged him to apply to an Ivy League institution, he told Brown Alumni Magazine. Kim transferred to Brown University his sophomore year.
Only a few students from Muscatine High School choose to attend eastern colleges, Pogemiller said. Currently, approximately one-third of each class from the high school attends a junior or community college, and another 35 to 40 percent attend a four-year university, he said.
Kim, who initially wanted to study political science and philosophy, informed his father about his intended concentrations when he returned to Iowa after his sophomore year at Brown. Kim said his father told him during the car ride home from the airport that as a Korean American, Kim could do whatever he wanted, but he needed to "have a skill no one can away." Kim subsequently declared a major in human biology.
Kim enrolled in Harvard Medical School immediately following his graduation from Brown in 1962, but took time off after his father passed away. During medical school, Kim completed a pre-doctoral fellowship in clinically relevant medical anthropology and graduated in 1991. Kim also pursued a Ph.D in anthropology, which he earned in 1993.
RESEARCH AND TEACHING
In his second year of medical school, Kim met Paul Farmer, who later would also become a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty. The two completed their medical residencies and fellowships at Brigham and Women's Hospital together. They also co-founded Partners in Health, which provides medical treatment to poor communities across the globe.
This project became the subject of the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder. The book was assigned reading prior to matriculation for the Class of 2009.
In fall 2008, Kim taught a global health course with Farmer at Harvard for undergraduate students. The class was designed "to create the great leaders of tomorrow for global health," Kim said, describing the course as "the greatest educational experience of his life."
"As Jim's closest friend and colleague for 25 years, I can only say that I think Dartmouth is lucky to have him," Farmer said in a College press release.
Kim's appointment was an exciting and bold move, Gary Gottlieb, a psychiatry professor and president of Brigham and Women's Hospital, said in an interview. Gottlieb, whose daughter is a member of Dartmouth's Class of 2010, praised Kim and Partners in Health for providing the hospital's residents and students with opportunities to work in places like Russia and Haiti.
FAMILY
Kim's wife, Younsook Lim, is a pediatrician at Children's Hospital Boston and previously worked for many years at Brookside Community Health Center, also in Boston. Although she has yet to decide if she will practice in Hanover, the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice fits her interests well, Kim said.
The couple has two children -- Thomas, who is eight, and another son born on Feb. 27. Kim said, jokingly, that he hopes his children will not disturb his neighbors on Webster Avenue.
"One of the things we are worried about is that our children don't get spoiled by all the attention they are going to receive from students," Kim said.
Kim said he looks forward to living on Webster Avenue, since his duties as president include interacting with students. Kim said College President James Wright told him that the fraternities and sororities are good neighbors, and Kim said he hopes to be welcome amongst students at the dining halls, athletic practices and other social events, he said.
Kim also asked community members to be patient with him as he becomes more familiar with Dartmouth culture.
"I don't know the Salty Dog Rag yet, so let that be a symbol," he said. "I will have to be taught the Salty Dog Rag, and I will have to be taught a lot about the culture of Dartmouth. But heck, I'm an anthropologist. That's what I do for a living."
