Anatolia College

The first graduating class of Anatolia College, in 1887

Anatolia College's campus in Merzifon included a school for girls (top) and the only school for deaf children in the Ottoman Empire (bottom)

Overview of the college in 1902, when it was still located in Merzifon

Macedonia Hall under construction in 1934

Wehrmacht officers in front of Macedonia Hall on April 9, 1941, with Stevens and Compton halls in the background

In 1810, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was founded in Boston and established the Bebek Seminary outside Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1840. In 1862, it was transferred to Merzifon, and in 1886, the Anatolia College of Mersovan was founded as a theological seminary for adults, with Charles Tracy as president. The students were principally Greek and Armenian, most coming from outside of Merzifon and boarding at the school, while the faculty was Greek, Armenian, and American. Enrollment soon reached 115 students. In 1893, the girls' school was founded.

In 1920, enrollment stood at 218 students, with an equal number in the girls' school and the campus consisted of more than 40 New England style buildings. Anatolia included a kindergarten, a school for the deaf, high schools for boys and girls, a college-level program, a theological seminary, one of the largest hospitals in Asia Minor, and an orphanage for 2000 orphans.

With help from Eleftherios Venizelos, Anatolia reopened in Thessaloniki in 1924, renting buildings in Harilaou, with 13 students, mostly refugees. Enrollment soon reached 157, while the Mission School for Girls in Thessaloniki became part of Anatolia College Anatolia in 1927. In 1934 the school moved to the newly constructed campus above the city near the village of Pylaia, on the lower slopes of Mt. Hortiatis.

When Greece entered World War II upon the Italian invasion in 1940, the school closed and the campus was used as military hospital. When Germany invaded Greece the campus was taken over by the Germans as general headquarters for the Balkans. The surrender documentations of Greece were signed in the school's main building, Macedonia Hall. In 1944-45 the campus was occupied by the British Army (the last units would not leave until 1949).

At the end of the war Anatolia reopened, as repair of the damaged campus proceeded. The girls' school was moved into temporary quarters on the Anatolia campus after its building on Allatini Street burned. For a number of years the schools remained separate, but co-education was completed by the end of the 1980s. However, the two schools are still administrated by different Deans. The I.B. school, was established in 1998. A school for management assistants was established in 1964 and closed early in the 21st Century.

In 1981, Anatolia re-established post-secondary education (its original mission) with the founding of the School of Business Administration and Liberal Arts (SBALA), later renamed American College of Thessaloniki (ACT).

• Yiannis Boutaris (class of 1960), Mayor of Thessaloniki (2011-2019).
• Raphael Demos (class of 1910, Bachelor A.B.), Professor of philosophy at Harvard University.
• Gikas Hardouvelis (class of 1973), Minister of Finance (2014-2015).
• Harris Mylonas (class of 1996), Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University and editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers.
• Vasilis Tsivilikas (class of 1961), was a Greek comedy actor with significant appearances in the Greek film industry, television and especially theater.
• Amedeo Odoni (class of 1961), Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT.
• Auguste Corteau (class of 1996), pen name of Petros Hadjopoulos, famous Greek author.
• Alecos Papadatos (class of 1977), is a comic book writer and illustrator, best known as the artist of Logicomix, a graphic novel written by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou. Logicomix was the No. 1 New York Times Best Seller Paperback Graphic Book of October 18, 2009.

There are 230 faculty members at Anatolia College, divided among the three divisions as follows: Elementary School (32), High School (156), and ACT (42). The majority of the faculty members are Greek, plus British, American, dual nationals and other European nationalities. The student to teacher ratio is 1:9 throughout the entire institution. The administration of the school is Greek, with some members having dual citizenship.

Anatolia College is governed by a board of trustees with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. Approximately half of the trustees reside in the New England region while most of the remainder represent other areas of the United States. Several Trustees are Greek residing in Greece. The trustees maintain an office in Boston to conduct fund-raising and otherwise serve the college.

Presidents

Anatolia has had 11 presidents, the first 10 from the United States.[7] The current president is Dr. Panos Vlahos, who is the first Greek president in the history of the institution.[7] The longest-lasting president of Anatolia was Charles Tracy, whose tenure lasted for 26 years, followed closely by Dr. William McGrew, who was president for 25 years. The shortest presidency was that of Joseph Kennedy, who was president for 3 years.

No.	President[7]	Tenure[7]	Nationality[7]	School locations named after[8]
1	Charles Tracy	1886-1912	United States	Tracy Hall
2	Dr. George White	1913-1933		White Hall
3	Ernest Riggs	1933-1950		Riggs Hall
4	Dr. Carl Compton	1950-1958		Compton Hall
5	Dr. Howard Johnston	1958-1964
6	Robert Hayden	1964-1972
7	Joseph Kennedy	1972-1974
8	Dr. William McGrew	1974-1999
9	Richard Jackson	1999-2009
10	Dr. Hans Giesecke	2009-2012
11	Dr. Panos Vlachos	2013–present	Greece

Anatolia College, Johns Hopkins University and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation have partnered to create the "Center for Talented Youth Greece at Anatolia College", a part of Johns Hopkins's CTY program already active for over 30 years in 120 countries.

The goal of the program is to identify and educate children of 5 to 16 years old that have special talents or capabilities, achieve high scores in school and are dedicated to learning beyond the limits of the regular educational system.

The program began in 2014 with the setting in operation a summer camp for children of 12 to 15, who will study subjects at a university level in various fields, such as, but not limited to, game theory. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation will fund the participation of students in the program for the first 3 years of its operation.

There is an expansion of the program scheduled for the future concerning all-year and online courses.[9]

• Anatolia College in Merzifon
• List of schools in Greece
• Robert College
• Koc School

• Bir Amerikan Misyonerinin Merzifon Amerikan Koleji Hatiralari (Memories of an American Missionary at the Merzifon American College), George E. White, Translated by Cem Tarık Yüksel, Enderun Kitapevi, İstanbul-1995. (in Turkish)
• Adventuring With Anatolia College, George E. White, Herald-Register Publishing Company, Grinnell, Iowa, March 1940

• Anatolia College website
• Anatolia alumni website
• ACMUN website
• The Anatolian publication list
• The Morning Cometh: 45 years with Anatolia College
• Anatolia College report from 1902, giving insight to the school while in Merzifon
• Ciao Net (Columbia International Affairs Online) Some Remarks on Alevi Responses to the Missionaries in Eastern Anatolia (19th-20th cc.) by Hans-Lukas Kieser, University of Basel, Switzerland
• "Adventuring With Anatolia College Archived 2010-06-22 at the Wayback Machine" by Dr. George E. White (HTML) posted by George Baloglou, State University of New York, College at Oswego
• Brief History of The American College of Thessaloniki
• Ottoman Official Attitudes Towards American Missionaries by Cagri Erhan, Department of International Relations, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey (research.yale.edu - YCIAS Working Papers Database)

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