WASHINGTON — The World Bank on Monday named as its next president Jim Yong Kim, a global health expert and the president of Dartmouth College, a widely expected appointment that continues the longstanding tradition of an American leading the Washington-based development institution.

While the selection of Dr. Kim by the bank’s 25-member executive board was no surprise, the board had, for the first time, considered more than one candidate for the job, a reflection of the increasing clout of emerging market nations on the global stage.

That increasing clout will be one of the major dynamics Dr. Kim will have to negotiate when he takes the helm of the bank on July 1. In a statement, Dr. Kim said he promised to “seek a new alignment of the World Bank Group with a rapidly changing world” during his tenure as president.

Cash-rich emerging economies like China, Brazil and India are driving much of the world’s growth in the wake of the global recession. They are becoming major investors in and lenders to poorer developing economies. Moreover, major charitable groups like the Gates Foundation have become increasingly powerful in some of the World Bank’s core areas, like global health.