This paper aims to show that the Institute for Rural Health, founded by Lee Young Choon, played an important role in the establishment of public health initiatives in post-liberation Korea and has had an impact on modern and contemporary public health projects in Korea. Specifically, this study examines Lee’s interest in rural areas, the establishment of the Institute for Rural Health, and its activities to identify its impact on rural health. The Institute for Rural Health was staffed by a number of researchers with personal and academic connections to Lee. Many of the researchers were graduates of Severance Medical College (University), Lee’s alma mater, and the experience they gained at the Institute was not limited to the Institute’s achievements, but allowed them to return to their alma mater and the field of public health administration, where they were able to make practical contributions to the public health initiatives in contemporary Korea after 1945.