| 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.
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.
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.[1]
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.[2] 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.