David Sutherland Hibbard

In February 1899, he accepted an invitation from the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions to serve in the Philippines,[3] which at that time recently fell under the ambit of the United States following Spain's defeat in the Spanish–American War.

At about the same time a certain Dr. Horace Silliman appeared at the office of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in New York City to contribute a sum of money to what he envisioned would be an industrial school for boys in the Philippines.

[6] On August 28, 1901, David Hibbard together with his wife Laura officially opened classes for the newly established Silliman Institute in a rented house in Dumaguete.

The equipment consisted of four desks about ten feet long, two tables and two chairs, a few McGuffey’s Readers, a few geographies, arithmetics and ninth-grade grammars.

During his incumbency as president which spanned roughly thirty years (1901–1930), Hibbard saw the growth of Silliman Institute from being an elementary school for boys to that of a liberal arts college in 1910.

The resolution was "In sincere appreciation of [his] 25 years of unselfish service and loyal friendship…his unfailing sympathy in the hopes and aspirations of the Filipino people."

In 1996, CAP also started an Annual Hibbard's Symposium on Education which is held every August coinciding with the Founders Day celebration of Silliman University.