Thomas Sutherland (May 3, 1931 – July 22, 2016), Dean of Agriculture at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad members near his Beirut home on June 9, 1985."Those who remain in captivity; John McCarthy release", ''The Times'', 9 August 1991 He was released on November 18, 1991, at the same time as

Terry Waite Sir Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is a British human rights activist and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of ...

, having been held hostage for 2,353 days, nearly six and a half years.

Early life

Born in

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Scotland on May 3, 1931, Sutherland was signed as a 17-year-old by

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers, though this has never been i ...

Sutherland obtained a BSc in

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, and moved to the United States in the 1950s."Joy and sadness in family as American hostage is freed; Release of Tom Sutherland", ''The Times'' 19 November 1991" He received a master's degree and PhD in animal breeding from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

, then taught animal science at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

for 26 years.

Abduction

In 1983, Sutherland moved to Beirut to take up a three-year term as dean of the faculty of agriculture and food science at the

American University in Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs lead ...

. Despite the assassination of University President Malcolm H. Kerr and the kidnapping of Professor Frank Reiger in 1984, and repeated warnings from the State Department imploring him to leave Lebanon, Sutherland chose to remain at the University. Two weeks after David P. Jacobsen was abducted, Sutherland was also kidnapped while using the

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

of University President

Calvin Plimpton Calvin Hastings Plimpton (7 October 1918 – 30 January 2007) was an American physician and educator, who served as president of Amherst College and American University of Beirut. He is known for appointing a commission in 1970 whose findings re ...

. Upon his release in 1991, Sutherland claimed that the kidnappers mistook him for Plimpton.

Aftermath

He was the second-longest held captive after

Terry Anderson Terry Anderson may refer to: * Terry Anderson (American football) (born 1955), American former NFL player * Terry Anderson, Canadian candidate * Terry Anderson (cartoonist), Scottish cartoonist * Terry Anderson (footballer) (1944–1980), Englis ...

."Beirut hostage wins damages of $323 million", ''The Times'', 27 June 2001 His memories of the experience were published in a book co-authored by his wife Jean, ''At Your Own Risk'' (). He claims to have attempted suicide a number of times and to have spent a substantial amount of time in solitary confinement. In June 2001, the Sutherland family won a $323 million verdict in a lawsuit against the frozen assets of the government of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, because of evidence that Iran had directed terrorists to kidnap Americans in Lebanon.Sutherland v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 151 F.Supp.2d 27 (D.D.C. 2001)) In accordance with Section 2002 of the

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) is a federal statute passed into law in 2000 by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton. The law was later reauthorized by presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump. In ad ...

, , Sutherland and his family received $35,041,877.36 (including interest) and the

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

for the rest of the original settlement is now held by the US Government. Sutherland died on July 22, 2016, in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

, aged 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Thomas 1931 births 1980s missing person cases 2016 deaths American people taken hostage Academic staff of the American University of Beirut Alumni of the University of Glasgow Formerly missing American people Iowa State University alumni Colorado State University faculty Kidnappings by Islamists Kidnapping in the 1980s Kidnappings in Lebanon Foreign hostages in Lebanon People of the Lebanese Civil War

Early life

Abduction

Aftermath

See also

References