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IN MEMORIAM

IN MEMORIAM

J. Herbert Snyder

Professor of Agricultural Economics, Emeritus

Davis

1926—2000

 

J. Herbert Snyder, emeritus professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Davis, died November 18, 2000 in Davis. He was born May 5, 1926, in McCloud, California; he was 74. A 1943 graduate of San Luis Obispo High School, he enrolled as a pharmacy major at UC Berkeley, taking a leave of absence in March 1944 to enlist in the U.S. Navy where he served as a lab tech until the end of World War II. Upon discharge from active duty, he returned to UC Berkeley to conclude undergraduate and graduate studies. He graduated with a B.S. degree in agriculture and soil science in 1949 and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics in 1954. His Ph.D. emphasis in the emerging field of resource economics served well as the focus of a multi-faceted, productive professional career at the University of California, Davis.

 

Professor Snyder was first appointed an instructor in agricultural economics beginning in 1953 and was subsequently promoted to the professorial ranks in July 1955. He spent 18 months on leave to Harvard University in 1959 and 1960 as a Ford Foundation economic adviser to Pakistan. A large portion of his tenure was associated with college and systemwide administrative responsibilities. He served as the Davis department’s chair (1966-70), was the division chairman for environmental studies in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (1970), and subsequently became the first assistant dean for environmental studies (1971). He ended his university career as three-term director of the University of California Water Resources Center (1972-1986). He retired in 1986 as professor emeritus.

 

Professor Snyder was widely known for his research and public policy interests in resource economics and conservation. His early work, springing from his dissertation on the history of groundwater use in the Antelope Valley, was on groundwater overdraft issues and the role of economics and law in the allocation of groundwater in California. He used his soil science background to analyze the usefulness of soil productivity ratings in economic analysis and to consider the interdependent, conjunctive issues of land and water use. He contributed importantly to policy discussions about farmland conservation, emphasizing the preservation of agricultural land use in the face of increasing pressures of urbanization in California. Professor Snyder also dealt with economic and policy analyses regarding salt and salinity management, emphasizing rising soil salinity in important, irrigated agricultural areas (Imperial Valley, San Joaquin Valley) and salt water intrusion as a consequence of groundwater overdrafting in the Salinas Valley. His broad overreaching grasp of strategically important California land and water issues was widely recognized by local, statewide, and national forums of professionals and policy makers with frequent invitations to participate in important resource policy discussions.

 

Dr. Snyder's tenure as director of the Water Resources Center, a multicampus organized research unit, was marked by the development of an open, peer-review process for soliciting and evaluating research proposals. This effort led to an increasingly diversified portfolio of Center-supported water research and involvement of a broader array of UC faculty in the Center's research and outreach activities. Dr. Snyder's tenure as director of the Center led to marked increases in the quality and diversity of Center-sponsored research. It was during his tenure that the California center became recognized as one of the strongest in the nation. In addition, Dr. Snyder represented the University of California effectively on two national water research organizations, the National Association of Water Institute Directors and the Universities Council on Water Resources.

 

Professor Snyder was a superb teacher on the Davis campus. He developed and taught for the first time several new courses in the department of agricultural economics, including undergraduate courses, “Rural and Resource Appraisal” (1955), “Analysis in Resource Use” (1959), and “Economic Basis of the Agricultural Industry” (1967), as well a graduate course in agricultural policy (1965).

 

Elected chairman of the College Faculty (1969-70), he played an important role in helping bring about a structural reorganization of the College leading to the establishment of teaching divisions – and he subsequently became the first assistant dean for environmental sciences in the college. He actively participated in course development and teaching activities in soil and water science, and helped develop the teaching program in the Renewable Natural Resources major. An important and innovative contribution was the development and co-coordination of the core upper division course in renewable natural resources, which was capped by an all-day “Classroom in the Sky” laboratory, an aerial overview by commercial jet of resource and environmental issues in California and the western United States. His commitment to undergraduate education continued throughout his tenure as director of the Water Resources Center with service as departmental major’s master adviser and in departmental and college instructional committee service.

 

Professor Snyder was frequently called upon for important public service contributions. His aptitude in organizing and summarizing seemingly disparate subject matter and viewpoints led to frequent requests for speaking engagements or as panel moderator and discussion leader. He authored or co-authored teaching materials for University Extension teaching syllabi and assisted professional societies in meetings, short courses, and accreditation exams. He was actively involved in developing several extension courses, including an annual week-long farm management for bank officers, and various resource related university extension courses, including the UNEX version of the Classroom in the Sky, as a two-day aerial seminar to Alaska, offered regularly until the mid-70s energy crisis.

 

Professor Snyder was deeply involved in land use planning and open space planning issues and was a frequent participant in county government, commodity group and agency discussions on those topics during the 1960s. From 1964 to 1968 he was a member of the Advisory Committee on Agricultural Land Problems of the California Legislative Assembly Interim Committee on Agricultural. He was acknowledged as one of the principal architects of the California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Williamson Act) through his involvement with the Assembly Committee and his close working relationship with its chairman, Assemblyman John Williamson. He was commended and cited by the California Assembly for work leading to development and passage of that legislation in 1965. He subsequently was appointed to the Joint Committee on Open Space Lands charged with implementation of that legislation following approval of Proposition 3 in 1967. He was a member of several professional organizations including the American Agricultural Economics Association, Western Agricultural Economics Association, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, Soil Conservation Society of America, and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was elected Fellow of the Soil Conservation Society of America in 1977.

 

Dr. J. Herbert Snyder was past master of the Athens Masonic Lodge and served on the board of directors of the Creation Millennial Fellowship. He is survived by his wife, Ruth M. Snyder of Davis, their three sons, Craig, Neal, and Roy, and five grandchildren.

 

Warren E. Johnston

Harold O. Carter

Ben C. French

Richard Howitt

Henry Vaux, Jr.