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

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

, 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 Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is an English humanitarian 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 England, he ...

, having been held hostage for 2,353 days.

Early life and kidnapping

Born in

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large 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 ...

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

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

Sutherland obtained a BSc in

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, 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 land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of th ...

, 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. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

for 26 years. He moved to Beirut in 1983 for a three-year term as dean of the faculty of agriculture and food science in the

American University in Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

. Despite the assassination of University President Malcolm H. Kerr and the kidnapping of Professor Frank Reiger in 1984, and despite being warned repeatedly by the State Department to leave, Sutherland remained 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. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...

of University President Calvin Plimpton. Upon his release, Sutherland claimed that the kidnappers mistook him for Plimpton.

Aftermath

He was the second-longest held captive after Terry Anderson."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, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, 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 addi ...

, , 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 per ...

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 home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 169,810 at the 2020 census, an increase of 17.94% since 2010. Fort Collin ...

, aged 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Thomas 1931 births 1980s missing person cases 2016 deaths American people taken hostage American University of Beirut faculty Alumni of the University of Glasgow Formerly missing people Iowa State University alumni Colorado State University faculty Kidnappings by Islamists Kidnappings in Lebanon Missing person cases in Lebanon

Early life and kidnapping

Aftermath

See also

References