All in the - American University of Beirut

Beyond Bliss Streetlegends and legaciesGeorge Edward PostPioneerScientistAs far as we know, he is the only oneof AUB’s founding fathers to havehis own website. Lauded as “thegreatest surgeon and botanist in theEast,” 1 George Edward Post (1838-1909) played an especially importantrole in founding the Syrian ProtestantCollege’s Medical Department. In aletter he wrote in 1873, Daniel Blisstells his wife, “Dr. Post is doing morefor this College than any otherman in Syria. His energy andthoroughness make the MedicalDepartment. 2Professor Lytton JohnMusselman, who created andmaintains the George EdwardPost Site (http://www.odu.edu/sci/lmusselm/post/index.html), says that although Floraof Syria, Palestine, and Sinai,which Post wrote in 1884, is stillconsulted today, it is his studyof the plants of the Bible that isPost’s most enduring contributionto the field of botany. (You can findout more about the plants describedin Post’s Flora of Syria, Palestine,and Sinai at AUB’s Post Herbarium,http://www.aub.edu.lb/nhm/Pages/herbarium.aspx.)This “pioneer scientist of theMiddle East,” as Musselman describeshim, was born in New York City. Hisfather was a surgeon and professor ofsurgery at University Medical Collegeof New York where Post earned hismedical degree in 1860. After hewas ordained in 1861, Post servedof the Middle Eastas chaplain of the 15 th Regiment ofNew York Volunteers for two years.Remarkably, while administering tothe spiritual and medical needs ofUnion troops, he also managed tofind time to enroll at the BaltimoreCollege of Dentistry and was awardeda doctor of dental surgery degree in1863. He married Sarah Read thesame year. It was also in 1863 that theAmerican Board of Commissioners forForeign Missions sent Post to Syria;he and his family spent five years inTripoli before he joined the SyrianProtestant College as a professor ofsurgery and botany in 1868.During his more than 40-yearcareer at SPC, Post worked particularlyclosely with Doctors CorneliusVan Dyck and John Wortabet.Together, these three extraordinarymen lay the groundwork for today’sAUB Medical Center. In additionto being a talented surgeon andteacher, Post also proved to be askilled architect (he designed andsupervised the construction ofthe old Medical Hall and PostHall), a successful fundraiser,and a deft emissary who representedSPC on several impor-tant missions abroad. Postdied of pneumonia at his summerhome in Aleih less than ayear after he retired from theCollege. In appreciation for thecare that he received from Dr.Post, Morris K. Jesup (who waspresident of the College’s Board ofTrustees from 1884 to 1908), ed $20,000 for the construction of ascience building on campus. Jesupinsisted that it be named for Post,who had designed the building, whichwas completed in 1911 at a cost ofdonat-$40,213. Post Hall has been hometo the Archaeological Museum since1962; the Geology Departmentis on the second floor.1 Henry Harris Jessup, Fifty-Three Years in Syria,Volume 1, page 272.2 Daniel Bliss, Letters from a New Campus, page132.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate |MainGate Fall 201141