He received his undergraduate degree from
Beloit College and a Ph.D. in English from
Harvard University in 1909. Snyder's dissertation was on
Robert Burns and was published as
The Life of Robert Burns in 1932. Snyder joined the Northwestern faculty in 1909, became dean of the Graduate School in 1934, and was elected president of the University in 1939, succeeding
Walter Dill Scott. Snyder is remembered as being an ardent conservative and uncompromising administrator. ==Notes & references==