Despite the multitude of responsibilities that College President Jim Yong Kim has taken on since assuming the College presidency last July, he has continued his personal work in global health outside of the College, including supporting Partners in Health's earthquake relief efforts in Haiti by sending experts and relief from Dartmouth. Kim's work allows students to interact with influential figures and inspires them to take initiative in solving problems on campus and worldwide, acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears said.
"I think it's wonderful, first of all, that [Kim's] circle of friends are willing to be a part of our community, because in some ways they are," Spears said, referring to Kim's connections to the network of global health advocates.
Spears said she believes that Kim has the ability to invite "incredible people" to the College to discuss issues including education, the environment and health.
"I think President Kim's connection across the globe is wonderful because it brings those people closer to us," she said. "They're his friends, they're his colleagues, they're people he's worked with on projects. He brings them right to our doorstep, and then students have an opportunity to engage with those people."
Kim co-founded Partners in Health a leading international health care organization described in Tracy Kidder's New York Times best-seller "Mountains Beyond Mountains" with Paul Farmer in 1987. Farmer, a Harvard Medical School professor, spoke at Kim's inauguration ceremony in September.
Both Farmer and Ophelia Dahl, executive director of PIH, were present at the ceremony, which was both "extraordinary" and an especially exciting experience for first-year students who read "Mountains Beyond Mountains" as a summer reading assignment, Spears said.
"[The students] read the book, and then they got to see people on stage in the first-year lecture," she said. "Students got to watch them like they were just nothing but old friends, teasing each other the same way college students tease each other."
These opportunities enrich experiences at the College for everyone, Spears said.
"As wonderful as Dartmouth is, we always have to come to terms with the fact that we're in a little town in the middle of the Upper Valley," she said. "Kim keeps us connected with the world."
Kim's global connections also allowed him to inspire students to respond quickly to January's earthquake in Haiti.
"President Kim really made it apparent to the Dartmouth community how important it was to help out at that time," Presidential Fellow Molly Bode '09 said. "Without Partners in Health, we wouldn't have accomplished what we did in Haiti."
The College could not have responded in such a "quick, effective way" without a partner on the ground that had "the infrastructure, the knowledge, the history and the presence that Partners in Health had," Bode said.
Supported by contributions from alumni, the College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center sent eight flights of health care supplies and personnel to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, according to Bode.
There are currently 10 health care professionals from DHMC working in conjunction with PIH at University Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Bode said. The College has sent 39 health care professionals to Haiti since January, she added.
"It's not only impressive how fast the response was, but also how committed we are to having a sustainable, long-term relationship with Haiti and with Partners In Health," Bode said. "[Kim's] passion, his expertise and his connection [to Partners In Health] really moved us in the right direction at the right moment."
Kim did not see a conflict of interest between his close involvement in the Haiti relief efforts and his job as College President, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"I am president of Dartmouth College but I am also a human being," Kim said in a previous interview. "I don't think anyone expected me to come to the job of president of Dartmouth College and give up my humanity in doing so. My humanity dictates to me that I try to help and respond."
Kim's prior experience in health care also may have led him to push successfully for the creation of a center to study health care delivery the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science. Relatively early in his administration, Kim proposed the creation of the center as a way to take advantage of assets present at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, the Tuck School of Business and elsewhere on campus to meet a large external demand for advice on health care delivery.
Before coming to the College, Kim was the executive director of PIH and attracted support from major organizations for PIH including Eli Lilly, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Soros Foundation.
Kim previously worked as the director of the HIV/AIDS department of the World Health Organization.
Kim's background as a scientist and acclaimed researcher, however, made him a controversial presidential candidate, drawing criticism from alumni who sought to emphasize Dartmouth's image as a liberal arts college rather than a research-focused university, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Shortly after Kim's selection was announced, John MacGovern '80, founder of the Hanover Institute a non-profit organization that supported the 2007 Association of Alumni lawsuit against the College said he "did not have high expectations" for Kim.
MacGovern said that Kim's selection was a move made by College administrators to transform Dartmouth into a research university, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"I have a fear that the [Board of Trustees] is going to create a Dartmouth University or Harvard [University] on the Connecticut," MacGovern said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
Kim's background in global health has also raised doubt among alumni about his administrative capabilities, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"I don't see anything in this guy's background of running anything," MacGovern said.
Many of Kim's former critics, however, have since praised the work his administration has undertaken during the past year, including administrators' work on budget reductions.
