William T. Snyder

Chancellor Emeritus, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Education

• B.S. 1954, Mechanical Engineering, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• M.S. 1956, Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University
• Ph.D. 1958 Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University

In 1958, Snyder began his academic career as a professor at North Carolina State University and continued teaching at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1961 to 1964. In 1964, Snyder was one of the first faculty members to start the UT Space Institute in Tullahoma, where he taught aerospace engineering for six years. In 1970, Snyder returned to the Knoxville campus as professor and head of Engineering Science and Mechanics. In 1983, Snyder became dean of the Tickle College of Engineering where he established four Chairs of Excellence, including the Henry Goodrich Chair of Excellence in Civil Engineering; created two research centers; and conducted a successful capital campaign, surpassing its original goal of $12 million.

Snyder later served as acting vice chancellor for academic affairs and acting chancellor before being named UT-Knoxville’s fifth chancellor in 1992. As chancellor, he championed affirmative action, diversity, and new technologies. One of Snyder’s most significant accomplishments was his leadership of the 21st Century Campaign, which raised $422 million in gifts to UT. Upon stepping down in 1999, he began a special assignment for President J. Wade Gilley, developing strategies for implementing the president’s new Tennessee Plan for Academic Excellence. Snyder spent the last four years of his academic career in the classroom, serving as a professor of engineering until 2004.

Snyder has written over 50 publications with his research spanning the topics of lubrication, combustion, magneto hydrodynamics, and energy management. Snyder has been honored by Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Tau Sigma, Sigma Xi, and was a charter member of the Association of Energy Engineers. He also received the 1998 Tau Beta Pi Standard of Excellence Award and the 1989 University of Tennessee National Alumni Association Public Service Award.

Snyder is currently the director of Development and Community Relations for the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation in Knoxville and continues to delight audiences by playing the “Mighty Wurlitzer” organ. He also serves as the chair for Leadership Annual Giving on the Tickle College of Engineering’s Campaign Executive Committee at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.