Giving to Loyola > John Snyder
Outstanding Faculty: John Snyder
Conrad N. Hilton Eminent Scholar Chair in Music Industry Studies, College of Music
John Snyder, multiple Grammy Award-winning producer and the Conrad N. Hilton Eminent Scholar Chair in Music Industry Studies, is one of Loyola’s outstanding faculty. Since Snyder’s arrival in August 2004, he has been dedicated to making music industry studies at Loyola the preeminent program in the country. He has been busy adapting the curriculum to increase the emphasis on new technologies, expanding the virtual program to increase the number of courses taught online and offered across the United States, and increasing the focus on national guests.
John Snyder places a strong emphasis on student involvement and includes music students in all of his endeavors. Within the 2004 - 05 academic year, students traveled with him to New York City to help produce a masterclass with jazz legend Cecil Taylor. They have assisted in the planning and execution of all details associated with guest speakers, including Island Records founder and former president Chris Blackwell and Grammy Award-winning recording engineer Trina Shoemaker. Also, student bands have had the opportunity to accompany Snyder to a professional studio to produce their albums.
When asked about his first year at Loyola, Snyder said, "Loyola has focused my attention on three words most especially: truth, service, and justice. The idea of Loyola has breathed life into those words for me. The idea of Loyola has made me think seriously about the responsibilities those words impose, how they apply to me, to my way of thinking, to my life."
As a professor in the College of Music, Snyder is able to use his vast experience in the music industry to teach students the necessary components for success in such a competitive field. Using his contacts in Los Angeles and New York City, he has been able to place music students into internships in the industry. Snyder notes that those in the Loyola community are very fortunate "to fully appreciate its (the university's) reflection of possibility, of self, of community, of education, of humanity."
