Robert Craven Snyder, Sr. (April 30, 1919–June 8, 2011), was a professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 and professor emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

 of English at Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...

 in Ruston

Ruston, Louisiana

Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...

, the seat of Lincoln Parish

Lincoln Parish, Louisiana

Lincoln Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Ruston. In 2004, its population was estimated to be 42,382...

 in north Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. He was particularly known for his public lectures on cultural, civic, and educational matters during the decades of the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s.

Background

The youngest of six children of the late Robert Harrison Snyder and the former Sophia Elizabeth Brock, Snyder was a native of Niota

Niota, Tennessee

Niota is a city in McMinn County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 781 at the 2000 census.- History :The community was originally called "Mouse Creek," but was renamed in 1897 to avoid confusion with a railroad stop in Jefferson City that was named "Mossy Creek." The name "Niota" was...

 in McMinn County in eastern Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was employed by the Atomic Energy Commission

Atomic Energy Commission

Many countries have or have had an Atomic Energy Commission. These include:* Australian Atomic Energy Commission * Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission * Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique...

 on the Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...

 in Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...

, Tennessee, work which led to the development of the atomic bomb. Snyder attended Methodist-affiliated Tennessee Wesleyan College

Tennessee Wesleyan College

Tennessee Wesleyan College is a small liberal arts college founded in 1857, located in the East Tennessee city of Athens. It is affiliated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church...

 in Athens

Athens, Tennessee

Athens is a city in McMinn County, Tennessee, United States. It is the county seat of McMinn County and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Chattanooga-Cleveland-Athens Combined Statistical Area. The population was 13,220 at the 2000...

, Tennessee and also studied at the University of North Alabama

University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama, and the state's oldest four-year public university....

 in Florence

Florence, Alabama

Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, formerly Florence State College. He further studied at Western Kentucky University

Western Kentucky University

Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....

 in Bowling Green

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

 in New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, and did graduate work at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee. Over his academic years, he spent summers at the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...

 at Oxford

Oxford, Mississippi

Oxford is a city in, and the county seat of, Lafayette County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1835, it was named after the British university city of Oxford in hopes of having the state university located there, which it did successfully attract....

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 and the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

 at Tuscaloosa

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...

.

In a 42-year career at Louisiana Tech which extended from 1947 to 1989, Snyder was head of the Department of English and Foreign Language and thereafter the separate Department of English. He could for years recall many of the students whom he had instructed by name. At his retirement, he was named professor emeritus and the first Louisiana Tech Distinguished Professor. Former Snyder students Sam Wyly

Sam Wyly

Samuel "Sam" Wyly is an American entrepreneur and businessman, philanthropist, and major contributor to conservative campaigns and candidates. In 2006, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $1.1 billion...

 and Wyly's brother, Charles Wyly, Jr., prominent businessmen in Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, established the Robert C. Snyder Endowed Chair in English. Snyder's obituary describes him as a strong classroom lecturer who was "as beloved as he was at times difficult. His brilliancy had no match. His white long sleeve starched shirts and seersucker suits . . . his knowing laugh, his acerbic wit and charm, and his engaging manner of telling stories combined with his refinement will be missed forever."

In 1962, Snyder worked to establish the Lincoln Parish Library and was the president of the library board for many years. In 1966, Governor John J. McKeithen appointed Snyder to the state board of library commissioners. He also served a president of the Louisiana Library Board and received the Modisette Award by the Louisiana Library Association. He was an officer in the American Library Association. He was later appointed by Governor David C. Treen

David C. Treen

David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...

 to serve on the Louisiana State Ethics Commission, a position that he held for twenty-six years, including a stint as chairman of the commission. Snyder served on the Louisiana Tech Athletic Council from the late 1950s through the 1980s. He was selected by the Alumni Association in 2005 for the Arliss Scroggin Award for Distinguished Service to Louisiana Tech. Snyder was also a member of the Executive Council on the Louisiana Commission for the Humanities. He was a national editorial critic for various specialized publications, and at one time he fielded questions on a weekly radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 program from Shreveport

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Louisiana.

Death and legacy

Snyder was preceded in death by nine weeks by his beloved wife of sixty-five years, the former Virginia Brownie Webb (September 19, 1921–March 21, 2011). Mrs. Snyder, the daughter of the late Vincent Jerome Webb and the former Lena Guin, was a native of Winfield

Winfield, Alabama

Winfield is a city in Marion county in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population was 4,540 at the 2000 census, the second largest city in Marion County.-History:...

 in Marion County

Marion County, Alabama

Marion County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Marion County was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on February 13, 1818. The county is located in the northwestern part of the state, bounded on the west by the state of Mississippi. It encompasses . Marion County...

 in northwestern Alabama. Professor Snyder was also preceded in death by his step-mother, Alpha Simpson Snyder (1893–1980); sisters, Elizabeth Snyder Harrington, Ava Snyder Glendenning; Mary Frances Snyder Smith; brothers, Samuel Snyder, Gilbert Snyder; and half-sisters, Mary Jane Snyder Sewell and Sue Snyder Long.

Snyder's three surviving children are Rebecca Snyder Howard and husband Dr. Rennie Howard of Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

, Virginia, Stephana Snyder Dean and husband Albert "Bud" Dean of Bossier City

Bossier City, Louisiana

Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the...

, and the physician Dr. Robert Snyder, Jr., and his wife, the former Gayle Langley, of Helena

Helena, Alabama

Helena is a city in Jefferson and Shelby Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. Helena is considered a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Greater Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan area. It is also one of three cities, along with Alabaster and Pelham, that make up the area known as "North Shelby" or...

, Alabama. There were also seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The grandsons served as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers included Tech president Daniel D. Reneau, former journalism professor Wiley W. Hilburn

Wiley W. Hilburn

Wiley Wilson Hilburn, Jr. , is a prominent journalist in Ruston, Louisiana, whose communications career began in the late 1950s when he was a student at Louisiana Tech University. In 1968, at the age of thirty, Hilburn returned to his alma mater to chair the Journalism Department and serve as...

, State Senator

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 Francis C. Thompson

Francis C. Thompson

Francis Coleman Thompson is a wealthy developer from Delhi in Richland Parish, Louisiana, U.S., where he served as a senior Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He served continuously from 1975 until 2007...

 of Delhi

Delhi, Louisiana

Delhi, originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,066.-History:...

, and Charles and Sam Wyly. Post-honorary pallbearers were F. Jay Taylor

F. Jay Taylor

Foster Jay Taylor, known as F. Jay Taylor , was a historian who served from 1962 to 1987 as the president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana...

, the Louisiana Tech president from 1962 to 1987, who preceded Snyder in death by less than a month, and former Tech baseball coach Pat "Gravy" Patterson.

Services for Professor Snyder were held on June 14, 2011, at the Ruston Presbyterian Church. Interment followed in Pines Memorial Gardens in Ruston.

Teddy Allen of the Shreveport Times, another Snyder honorary pallbearer, wrote in remembrance of his former professor:

"One could argue that Snyder was the most loved teacher at Tech for at least four decades. He instructed, encouraged, counseled, consoled, challenged, and inspired. He did it with everything from Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...

’s Republic to Frost

Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...

's poetry, all with a charm and passion, a shout or a whisper. He expertly navigated the classroom trail, sometimes changing tactics, but tailoring his presentations to students while stealthily making them rise to his level.
But he was more than a champion in the classroom. He advised governors and congressmen, spoke at every Kiwanis and Optimist Club within a day’s drive of Ruston and still found time daily to spend with his friends Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...

 and Tennyson

Tennyson

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the first Baron Tennyson, was an English poet.Tennyson may also refer to:-People:* Baron Tennyson, the barony itself** Alfred, Lord Tennyson , poet...

, Pope

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...

 and Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...

. He never stopped learning or teaching. His resume includes almost singlehandedly founding the Lincoln Parish Library and serving on its board for thirty-nine years and on the State Library Board from 1968 to 2005. . . . "

In the early 1970s, Snyder addressed a state convention of gifted high school students and described his philosophy of life, accordingly:

"I am so very weary of hearing that the world is going to be blown up—that youth is not to be trusted—that there is no chance for greatness today—that most of the frontiers have been conquered. Let me say to you that all of these suggestions are untrue and will not come to pass, for we are actually just in the infancy of civilization, and you are living in a glorious age and day. Man is just beginning to crawl, so to speak."