"This is, for me as it may be for you, a bittersweet occasion," Kim said in his valedictory address.
"So, to the extraordinary Class of 2010 let me say that I expect extraordinary things from each of you," he said.
Kim also challenged the new graduates to play their part and to take responsibility in solving the world's problems.
"The world's troubles are your troubles," Kim said, echoing the words of former College President John Sloan Dickey. "There is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix."
In his speech, Kim defended the value of Dartmouth's liberal arts curriculum, which he emphasized as the cornerstone of the College's undergraduate education.
"This vision of the whole, this understanding of interconnections, is what Dartmouth's liberating education is all about," Kim said.
Rapid advances in knowledge have led other colleges and universities to push talented students to specialize as early as possible, Kim said. Dartmouth, however, has "shown a different path."
"A Dartmouth education encourages demands a broad understanding of ideas across multiple disciplines, rather than a narrow focus," Kim said. "As specialized knowledge advances to unimagined depths, the need for a vision of the whole is more vital than ever, and more difficult to achieve."
Stephen Lewis, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and former U.N. Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, congratulated the accomplishments of the graduates in his Commencement address. He expressed his delight to have received the doctorate of humane letters from the College.
"I want to congratulate the graduates overwhelmingly for what they have achieved," Lewis said. "I want to say to my honorary degree colleagues that this is a quite remarkable eclectic group of people who have fashioned contributions that are positively legendary, and we're now bonded forever in the halo of Dartmouth."
In his address, Lewis spoke about the lessons he learned when he served as the U.N. envoy on AIDS in Africa from 2001 to 2006.
"The specter of death and the reality of death were omnipresent, from the graveyards to the village huts to the hospital wards," Lewis said, going on to paint the grim reality of the AIDS epidemic's toll in Africa.
The international response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa had been dismal, he said.
"It might have been racism, it might have been geography, it might have been indifference whatever it was, the treatment did not roll out, even though, by then, there were generic drug equivalents emerging that made treatment financially possible," Lewis said.
Lewis then publicly commended Kim for the role he played in the fight against the AIDS epidemic in Africa, when he served in the World Health Organization as the director of HIV/AIDS. As the director, Kim initiated a campaign against AIDS called "3 by 5," the objective of which was to put three million HIV/AIDS patients into treatment by the year 2005, Lewis said.
"Your university president contributed significantly to keeping those people alive," Lewis said.
He added that Kim faced many challenges in his campaign from agencies within the U.N.
"One of the singular truths about the United Nations, rarely known by the outside world, is the degree of jealousy and competitiveness amongst the agencies," Lewis said. "And the sorry truth about '3 by 5' is that some in the U.N. world of AIDS were incensed by Jim Kim's initiative."
In concluding his address, Lewis challenged the graduates to become more actively involved in "global issues," and to start thinking of themselves as "global citizens" in their upcoming professional lives.
"I ask only that you take this incredible education that you've amassed at this remarkable institution, and analyze and engage and reflect and dispute and embrace but above all be involved in shaping a more secure, just, and decent world." Lewis said. "There's nothing more noble than the quest for social justice and equality. As of today, you can choose to launch yourself onto that path."
Seven prominent figures received honorary degrees in this year's Commencement ceremony. The list included Lewis; Regina Benjamin, 18th U.S. surgeon general; Agnes Binagwaho, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health of Rwanda; Arthur Irving, chairman of Irving Oil Company; Barry MacLean '60 Th'61, president and CEO of MacLean-Fogg Company; James Nachtwey '70, an award-winning photojournalist; and Jodi Picoult, a best-selling novelist and Hanover resident.
The College also honored four valedictorians, each of whom earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average during his time at the College. They were Benjamin Gifford of Newton, Mass.; Gregory Hart of Scarsdale, N.Y.; Tomi Jun from Singapore; and Adrian Wood-Smith of St. Paul, Minn.
