Arthur W. Hummel

Arthur William Hummel Sr. (March 6, 1884 – March 10, 1975) was an American Christian missionary to China, head of the Asian Division of the Library of Congress, noted sinologist, and editor of Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, a biographical dictionary. He was the first president of the Association for Asian Studies, in 1948. Hummel's son, Arthur W. Hummel Jr., was a career diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to China.

Early life Hummel was born in Warrenton, Missouri, and graduated from the Morgan Park Academy in 1905. He received a bachelor's degree in 1909, a master's degree in 1911, and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1914, all from the University of Chicago.

While studying at the University of Chicago, he was attracted by the Student Volunteer Movement, and went to Japan to teach in Kobe, though not as a missionary. In the summers of 1913 and 1914, he visited his brother, who taught history and religious education at the University of Nanking and became intrigued with the country from which Japan had learned so much.

Publications Hummel, Arthur W., Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644–1912), (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943).