Lee Jong-wook

Who was Lee Jong-wook?

Lee Jong-wook was the director-general of the World Health Organization for three years. Born on 12 April 1945 in Seoul, Korea, Lee obtained a medical degree at Seoul National University, then obtained an MA at the University of Hawaii in public health. He joined the WHO in 1983, working on a variety of projects including the Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations and Stop Tuberculosis. He began his term as director-general in 2003. He was the first Korean to lead an international agency. He died on 22 May 2006, while in office, in Geneva, Switzerland, following surgery for a blood clot in the brain. He was posthumously awarded the Hibiscus Cordon of the Order of Civil Merit by the South Korean government.

In 2004, he was one of the 100 people who shapes our lives and most powerful people in the world by Time Magazine.