Dr.
Richard Snyder
Class of 1993
Background:
Dr. Richard G. Snyder was born February 14, 1928, in Northampton,
Massachusetts. He graduated from Amherst High School, winning
a scholarship to Amherst College, 1946-48 (pre-med), before
joining the U.S. Army Air Force and U.S. Air Force. At an
early age he developed a consuming interest in aviation. By
age 22 he had flown 100 combat missions in the Korean War.
He received the Distinguished Flying Cross and three air medals.
Dr. Snyder combined his extensive aviation and automotive
experience with his biological anthropology and biomechanics
research towards furthering transportation occupant crash
safety. He survived five aircraft crashes.
Professional
Experience:
Dr. Snyder entered the University of Arizona in 1956, completing
his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Physical Anthropology in 1959.
His academic track was nonconventional throughout his career,
involving simultaneous appointments, consultantships, and
research. By 1959 he served on the Arizona Transportation
and Traffic Institute, was a consultant to the Army, an associate
research engineer at the Applied Research Laboratory, and
in 1960 was raised two ranks to associate professor, Systems
Engineering. Joining the Federal Aviation Agency in 1960 as
chief of the Physical Anthropology Laboratories of the FAA's
new Civil Aeromedical Research Institute, and intermittently
as acting chief, Protection and Survival Laboratories, he
also was a research test pilot and taught at the University
of Oklahoma. He helped design, organize and staff four laboratories
in government, industry and higher education. From 1966-1968
he was manager, Biomechanics, Automotive Safety Research Office,
Ford Motor Company, and on the faculty at Michigan State University.
In 1968 he joined the University of Michigan's Highway Safety
Research Institute, conducting extensive research culminating
in some 400 publications and presentations. Over the next
17 years he headed the Biomedical Department, and as professor
of Anthropology, initiated the forensic bioanthropology courses.
From 1984-1985 he was director and organized the NASA Center
of Excellence in Manned Vehicle Systems. Retiring in 1985,
he was appointed professor emeritus, and in 1989, research
scientist emeritus. In 1986, he founded BioDynamics International,
consulting in crash safety, and in 1992 also became president,
George Snively Research Foundation, dedicated to supporting
biomechanics and head injury research.
Career
Highlights:
On February 4, 1952, ten days before his 25th birthday and
date of honorable discharge from the USAF, Snyder was flying
in a formation of three jet fighters flying the North Atlantic
when fuel problems caused a return to Labrador in an unexpected
arctic blizzard, ending in a formation crash into the ground.
Pilot Snyder survived -- all three aircraft were destroyed.
When the storm let up, a rescue helicopter reached the site
and a paramedic sergeant attended to the badly-injured Snyder.
However, the blizzard made it necessary for the helicopter
to depart, leaving the paramedic to care for his patient for
18 hours at 16 degrees below zero. Using a parachute as a
tent, the paramedic battled desperately to save Snyder from
freezing to death. After 18 months of hospitalization and
a successful effort by doctors to save his nearly frozen legs
from amputation, he was disabled-retired. Dr. Snyder left
for the heat of the desert, entering his career in university,
industry and government as an educator and scientist. His
research focused on protection of the occupant in crash environments,
and included several thousand aircraft crash investigations,
as well as all aspects of human tolerance impact research.
He was first to conduct research on restraint protection of
the air bag systems using human surrogates. His role model
was the late Hugh DeHaven. Snyder picked up where DeHaven
left off, studying some 30,000 cases of extreme free-fall
survival cases during the past 33 years.
