Harry Bidwell Ansted

{{Short description|American educator}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Harry Bidwell Ansted

| birth_place = Temperance, Michigan, U.S.

| birth_date = December 17, 1893

| death_date = November 15, 1955 (aged 61)

| office = 1st President of Seoul National University

| term_start = 1946

| term_end = October 24, 1947

| successor = Lee Choon-ho

| predecessor = Position created

| branch = United States Army

| battles = World War II

| death_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

| education = Hillsdale College (BBA)
University of Southern California (MA)

}}

Harry Bidwell Ansted (December 17, 1893 – November 15, 1955) was a United States Army officer, pastor and educator, and the first president of Seoul National University.

Early life and education

Born in Temperance, Michigan, Ansted attended Hillsdale College and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Greenville College. In 1923, he earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Southern California.

Career

He then became a Christian pastor and served in several churches in Michigan for five years. He went on to teach in Wessington Springs College, Los Angeles Pacific College, and Seattle Pacific College.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BK8eAQAAIAAJ&q=Harry+Bidwell+Ansted|title=Who's who in American Education|date=1936|publisher=Who's Who in American Education|language=en}}

In 1944, near the end of the World War II, Ansted enlisted in the United States Army as an Army chaplain. After his service in Leyte, Philippines, he was transferred to Korea, a part of the United States Army Military Government in Korea. It was here, in 1946, that he became the first president of Seoul National University, a new national university established in place of Keijō Imperial University.{{Cite book|last=Rasmussen|first=Seth C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNFKDwAAQBAJ&dq=Harry+Bidwell+Ansted&pg=PA209|title=Igniting The Chemical Ring Of Fire: Historical Evolution Of The Chemical Communities Of The Pacific Rim|date=2018-01-18|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-1-78634-456-4|language=en}} He also created the official motto of the school, Veritas Lux Mea. Ansted was succeeded by Lee Choon-ho on October 24, 1947.

He was a member of the American Economic Association, the American History Society, and the Royal Economics Society.

References