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| H I S T O R Y | ||
In 1862, American missionaries in Lebanon and Syria, under the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, asked
Dr. Daniel Bliss to withdraw from the evangelistic work of the
mission in Lebanon to found a college of higher learning that
would include medical training. It was felt that this college
should have an American educational character, should be
administered independently from the Mission, and should be
maintained by its own funds. Dr. Bliss travelled to the United
States in the summer of 1862 to solicit funds for this new
enterprise. By August 1864 he had raised $100,000, but because
of inflation during the Civil War it was decided that he
should raise a sterling fund in England to start the
operations of the college, leaving the dollar fund to
appreciate. After collecting 4,000 in England, he travelled to
Beirut in March 1866.On April 24, 1863, while Dr. Bliss was raising money for the new school, the State of New York, granted a charter under the name of the Syrian Protestant College. The college opened with its first class of 16 students on December 3, 1866. 
The cornerstone of College Hall, the first building on the
present campus in Ras Beirut, was laid on December 7, 1871, by
the Honorable William E. Dodge, Sr., then Treasurer of the
Board of Trustees. At this ceremony President Daniel Bliss
expressed the guiding principle of the college in these words:
This college is for all conditions and classes of men without regard to color, nationality, race or religion. A man, white, black, or yellow, Christian, Jew, Mohammedan or heathen, may enter and enjoy all the advantages of this institution for three, four or eight years; and go out believing in one God, in many gods, or in no God. But it will be impossible for anyone to continue with us long without knowing what we believe to be the truth and our reasons for that belief.  College
Hall and the first medical building were completed and put to
use in 1873, and the bell in the tower of College Hall pealed
for the first time in March, 1874. However, College Hall was
extensively damaged by a savage explosion in the early morning
of November 8, 1991, and the building had to be demolished. It
was later rebuilt, and the new College Hall was inaugurated in
the spring of 1999.Since the earliest years, the University has continually expanded and developed new faculties and programs. In 1867, the University started the School of Medicine. Four years later, in 1871, both school of pharmacy and a preparatory school were added. The latter became independent in 1960 and is currently known as International College. In 1900, the University established a school of commerce which was later incorporated into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. When the hospital (currently the American University Hospital) opened in 1905, a school of nursing was also established. In 1910, the University opened a school of dentistry, which operated for thirty years. In the early years of the 1950s several program expansions took place. The Faculty of Engineering and Architecture was established in 1951; the Faculty of Agriculture.now the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.opened its doors in 1952; and, finally, the School of Public Health - now the Faculty of Health Sciences - was started in 1954.  On November 18, 1920, the Board of Regents of the State University of New York changed the name of the institution from the Syrian Protestant College to the American University of Beirut; other charter amendments expanded the functions of the University. All presidents of the University have been in residence at Marquand House, which was completed in 1879. At the end of July 2002, the number of degrees and diplomas awarded since June 1870 totaled 66,107. (The number has risen to 76,439 by June 2008.) |
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