Daniel L. Bliss (1823–1916)
Founder and First President of the Syrian Protestant College
Daniel L. Bliss (1823–1916), an American missionary, educator, and visionary founder of the Syrian Protestant College (later the American University of Beirut), was born in Georgia, Vermont. After graduating from Amherst College and Andover Seminary, he was ordained as a minister and joined the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He married Abby Maria Wood Bliss (1830-1908) and had four children: Frederick Jones, Howard Sweetser, William Tyler and Mary.
Arriving in Syria in 1855, Bliss taught at the Abeih Seminary for Boys and later in Souk el-Gharb, dedicating himself to both teaching and learning Arabic. In 1862, he returned to the United States to advocate for establishing a higher education institution in Beirut. His vision gained the support of philanthropist William E. Dodge, leading to the formation of a Board of Trustees and a New York State charter in 1863.
Following successful fundraising in the U.S. and U.K., Bliss founded the Syrian Protestant College (later to become the American University of Beirut) in Zuqāq al-Balāṭ before relocating it to Ras Beirut, where he directed campus development from 1871 until his retirement in 1902. Succeeded by his son Howard Bliss, he remained in Ras Beirut until his death in 1916 and was buried in the Anglo-American Cemetery in Furn el-Shubbak.