Harry Bidwell Ansted

Harry Bidwell Ansted (1893-1955) was a United States Army officer, pastor and educator, and the first president of Seoul National University.^[1]

Born on December 17, 1893, in Temperance, Michigan,^[2] Ansted attended Hillsdale College and majored in Business at Greenville College. He then became a Christian pastor and served in several churches in Michigan for five years. In 1923, he acquired a bachelor's degree in University of Southern California, and went on to teach in Wessington Springs College, Los Angeles Pacific College, and Seattle Pacific College.

In 1944, near the end of the World War II, Ansted enrolled in the US Army as an Army chaplain. After his service in Leyte, Philippines, he was transferred to Korea, a southern part of which was under US Military rule at the time. 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. He also created the official motto of the school, Veritas Lux Mea, which is still used to this day. Ansted was succeeded by Lee Choon-ho on October 24, 1947.

Ansted died on December 16, 1955 in Seattle, Washington, and was buried in Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park.^[2]

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