Humanitarian Leadership
Numerous accounts attest to the contributions of AUB’s early presidents to national and regional causes. During the First World War, President Howard S. Bliss offered refuge to neighbors and to the Jesuit Brothers from Saint Joseph University, while also organizing medical expeditions to treat soldiers and establishing soup kitchens for the needy. Later, at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, he delivered a courageous appeal in support of Arab self-determination. His successor, Bayard Dodge, likewise spoke out against the postwar division of the Levant among the mandatory powers. Together, their actions stand as enduring testaments to AUB’s spirit of integrity, service, and engagement with the wider region.
The skill and compassion of Dr. Harris Graham extended far beyond the university campus. During World War I, when Asghar Pasha, an Ottoman official in Damascus, fell critically ill, Jamal Pasha summoned Graham for help after other treatments had failed. Diagnosing malaria, Graham successfully treated the patient. Deeply impressed, Jamal Pasha pledged to protect the College and its faculty for the remainder of the war.
Another notable incident occurred when Dr. Dray, a skilled dentist, was summoned to Damascus to treat a severe jaw wound sustained by a high-ranking German official who had been shot by an assassin. He carried out a remarkable procedure and saved the official’s life—an event that strengthened the University’s ties with the Ottoman authorities.