Start of the Young Professionals Program, October 1963

First Loan for Family Planning, Jamaica - Population Project, 1970

Healthgram "Staff Concerns About AIDS", September 19, 1985

On September 23, 1963, eleven young men arrived at the World Bank as the first participants of the new Junior Professional Recruitment and Training Program, later known as the Young Professional Program (YPP). This program was a result of the efforts of many senior staff members to recruit young professionals from member countries to join the Bank.  More...

Signs such as this were placed throughout Jamaica as part of World Bank’s project to assist the Jamaican Government’s national family planning program. More...

In the mid 1980's, the World Bank began a dialogue with its staff in response to AIDS becoming a prominent health issue in the news. As evidenced by the Healthgram dated September 19, 1985 "Staff Concerns About AIDS," the Bank considered it its responsibility to keep staff well informed on the nature of AIDS.  More...

Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the IMF, Nairobi, Kenya, 1973

Biographies of the World Bank Group Presidents

James D. Wolfensohn - Ten Years as World Bank Group President

In September 2005 the World Bank Group Archives featured the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the IMF held in Nairobi, Kenya in September 1973 during Robert McNamara's tenure. More...

The World Bank Group Archives features a new historical resource – biographies of the former World Bank Group presidents. Each biography focuses on the tenure of a World Bank Group president, highlighting the challenges faced by each president and his contributions to the growth and evolution of the institution. The biographies of the presidents also describe their personal histories including their experiences prior to becoming presidents of the World Bank Group. More...

James D. Wolfensohn became the World Bank Group’s ninth president on June 1, 1995, after a distinguished career as an international investment banker and involvement in global development and environment issues. On June 1, 2000 he became the third World Bank Group president to be reappointed to a second term of office. More...

Shirley Boskey - the First Female Department Director of the World Bank

World Bank Institute Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

Press Release - The World Bank Group Pledges East Pakistan Cyclone Reconstruction Assistance, November 18, 1970

Shirley Boskey began her long, distinguished career at the World Bank in 1954, in the Technical Assistance and Liaison Staff unit, the predecessor of the International Relations Department. Ms. Boskey was appointed the director of this department in 1975 and became the Bank’s first female manager at the director level. She continued working with this group for 29 years until she retired in 1983. More...

The photo shows the first home of the World Bank Institute (formerly Economic Development Institute) at 1620 Belmont St., N.W., Washington D.C. March 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of the World Bank Institute (WBI), formerly known as the Economic Development Institute (EDI). More...

One of the 20th century's most destructive storms, the Bhola Cyclone struck the coast of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on the night of November 12 -13, 1970. A lethal combination of high winds - in excess of 120 mph (190 km/h) - and abnormally high tides - created a tidal surge in the Bay of Bengal that swept across the heavily populated region. An estimated 300,000 people perished in this disaster. More...

Education Project for Tunisia - First World Bank Group Financing of Education, 1962

Press Release 1 and 2 -- Statement by Eugene Meyer, June 4, 1946

Inaugural Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IBRD, Savannah, Georgia, March 8-18, 1946

The photo shows a group of students receiving instruction at the Lycee Technique de Rades, Tunisia, May 1966. This school was designed to provide a six-year secondary education with emphasis on mathematics and technical subjects. It was built using funds from the Education Project for Tunisia (Credit 0029). This was the first World Bank Group financing for education. More...

On June 4, 1946, Eugene Meyer was nominated and selected as President of the World Bank by the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. “I shall devote my full energies to the task. The world is well aware today of the food famine. At the same time we must become equally aware that the world is starving for the products of industry. The Bank was organized to promote reconstruction and development in both these essential activities,” Mr. Meyer stated on the day of his appointment.
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The inaugural meeting of the Board of Governors of the IBRD was held at Savannah, Georgia on March 8-18, 1946. In his message to the participants of this divisive meeting U.S. President Harry Truman said: “…the great institutions provided for at Bretton Woods must now become living operating organisms. To breathe life into these institutions is your challenging task.” The selection of the permanent location for the Bank was one of the major tasks. New York and Washington, D.C., were considered as two possible sites. More...