Kim said that his primary task as president will be to ensure that Dartmouth offers "close to the best, if not the best, undergraduate education" in the world. Kim added he is "beginning to be convinced" that the College does so already, although he said evaluating education is both a difficult and subjective process.
The issue of recognition is one of Dartmouth's great weaknesses, Kim said. The College does not publicize its achievements as well as it should, he said, adding that he was not aware of the caliber of Dartmouth's undergraduate education before he became interested in the presidency.
"The first priority is to ask, Are we the best undergraduate education that exists in the world?'" Kim said. "If it is the best undergraduate education, why? If it's not, what are the things that we can do that will make it better?"
Kim said he will also work with the graduate schools in an effort to achieve each school's individual goals.
"The Medical School is ranked 35th I don't see any reason why our medical school can't be in the top 10 or top five," Kim said. "I'm not obsessing about rankings. What I'm saying is we want to feel confident what we're doing is the best that we can do and we want to be recognized for it."
Pointing to his previous work in evidence-based medicine, in which as much data as possible must be gathered before a decision is made, Kim said he will focus the first year of his presidency on learning about the College, which he called "an incredibly complicated place," before instituting any major changes.
"Changing the direction of a 200-year-old institution is not something that you do until you're really sure that you have great consensus around some sort of change that just makes sense," he said.
Kim, who is the first Asian-American to lead an Ivy League institution, also said he was not previously aware of the diversity of the undergraduate population at Dartmouth. While there is a stereotype that Dartmouth is "a place that is almost all white male, mostly athletes, mostly frat guys," Kim said, he also noted that 39 percent of the incoming Class of 2013 are students of color.
Although Kim said he does not have specific plans for the College, he added he will challenge Dartmouth to perform at the highest possible level, just as he challenged the conception that HIV and drug-resistant tuberculosis could not be treated in his global health career.
"My history is to go into a group and say, What are our highest aspirations?'" Kim said. "I'm told, This is all we can do.' What I've always said is, Come on, we can do better than that.' There's no reason not to shoot for everything."
Kim said he has spent the past months studying reports on the College and meeting with Provost Barry Scherr the head of Kim's transition team and other top administrators. He noted, however, that it is impossible to fully comprehend Dartmouth from an outside position.
Referencing his previous work as an anthropologist, Kim said he could not make general statements about Dartmouth's current status until he performs "participant observation."
Kim, the co-founder of Partners in Health and a former director of the World Health Organization's initiative to combat HIV/AIDS, said that as he anticipates continuing his research and advocacy while at Dartmouth, joining the other public intellectuals that have presided over the College as part of the Wheelock Succession and pointing to Wright's work with veterans one of Dartmouth's "proudest moments."
Kim also said he hopes to revive the Great Issues course, a staple of John Sloan Dickey's presidency.
During the Dickey years, the class was offered only to seniors. However, Kim said he wants to teach the class himself during sophomore summer in an effort to to inspire students who still have time remaining in their Dartmouth career.
Kim said he plans to start interacting with students as early as possible, and has already begun to familiarize himself with Dartmouth's lexicon.
"Even knowing that it's Tri-Kap' and not Kappa Kappa Kappa these are details that you have to know," Kim said. "These details are not trivial."
