Steven Snyder
Class of ‘90 (M.A.), psychology; ‘94 (Ph.D.), psychology
In March 1988, I was contemplating moving from Seattle to study counseling psychology at the University of Minnesota. I had been accepted into the program and now sat in the office of René Dawis, professor of counseling psychology.
Photo by Leo Kim
I shared with René my philosophy at the time: that life could be conceptualized as a circle. When you complete one circle, you expand to an even greater one. I explained to René that I had recently completed a circle by fulfilling my career aspirations at Microsoft, a circle begun ten years earlier when I graduated from the Harvard Business School. Thanks to Microsoft’s success (and the stock options bestowed upon me during my five years there), I could retire from business and embark upon graduate studies in psychology. This would prepare me for a broader mission: expanding my circle by using my skills and talents to more directly benefit society.
Yes, you can look at life as a circle, René said, but he preferred a spiral. His hands traced a helix, each coil moving to a higher level. I had been thinking in two dimensions; René helped me see a third.
This metaphorical expansion represents the unique place of the College of Liberal Arts at the U of M. It’s been nearly 20 years since I became associated with CLA, and over that time I’ve had the privilege of studying a variety of disciplines: psychology, creative writing, jazz, biblical law, history, and philosophy. Each experience has added perches from which I view the physical and spiritual universe. Each experience has expanded my dimensions of understanding.
Recently, René (now professor emeritus) and I attended a dinner celebrating our selection as distinguished CLA alumni. My teacher and I had advanced another rung in life’s spiral. I thought back to the time I would have perceived the accomplishment as a flat circle without the perspective to look down on my life as it had been before. How limiting that would have been.
Snyder is managing director of SnyderJazz Consulting in Orono, Minnesota, and teaches business ethics in the U’s Carlson School of Management. Cofounder and CEO of Net Perceptions, Snyder is the recipient of the World Technology Award, which is bestowed to “those global leaders who most contribute to the advance of emerging technologies for the benefit of business and society.”
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