To most Americans in the late 1800, Dumaguete was a name their tongue was still to master. It was unfamiliar to them. Even the Philippines, which at that time was still recovering from the onslaught of the Spanish-American War, was not on the immediate list for a Presbyterian mission. But it took the vision and commitment of a man to turn this around. The late Dr. Arthur Carson, third Silliman president, wrote in his book how a man's strong resolve to help shape up Philippine education paved the way for the establishment of Silliman University. The man was Dr. Horace B. Silliman, a retired businessman of the town of Cohoes in New York State.