Silliman University is a Protestant institution of higher education located in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines. It was the first Protestant school founded in the Philippines. The university holds the distinction of being one of the 30 private higher education institutions in the Philippines that have been granted autonomy by the Commission on Higher Education.

Silliman University was founded on August 28, 1901, making it the oldest American university in Asia. Originally named Silliman Institute, an elementary school, it was established by Protestant missionaries of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and started through a gift from Dr. Horace Brinsmade Silliman, a retired businessman and philanthropist from Cohoes, New York. He was an active layman in the Presbyterian Church. The school was thus named after him.

The school began with 15 male students, four long desks, two tables, and two chairs. The First President of the University, David Sutherland Hibbard of Lyndon, Kansas. He has a statue in front of the CAP Building, Rizal Boulevard, Dumaguete. The first faculty was the Reverend Hibbard and his wife Laura. From 1901 to 1912, it was a boys school. In 1910, Silliman was given the right to confer degrees. In 1912, girls were admitted for the first time. In 1938, Silliman became a university, the first school outside of Manila to be granted university status.