Messenger - Vol. 4, No. 1, Page 11 1994 Richard Schneider-Norwich University Few people hold the titles of rear admiral, adjutant general and university president simultaneously, but Richard Schneider, Delaware '86 PhD, answers to all three. He is a rear admiral in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, with responsibility for the area east of the Rockies. He also is president of Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., a military institution, and, as such, serves as the commanding general of the Vermont State Militia. A graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with eight years of active duty including one in Vietnam, Schneider returned to the academy as an assistant professor and assistant dean of academics. He then moved his family to Delaware to become executive officer of the College of Marine Studies with offices in Newark and Lewes. His new responsibilities included everything, from contracts and grants to the University's research vessels. "I cherish my days at the University of Delaware," Schneider says. "They were years of growth, and the platform that launched me on my future career." Schneider, who holds a master's degree in the physical sciences from Wesleyan University, earned his doctorate in the College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy. His dissertation examined how the federal government supports research at universities, focusing on grants and contracts. From Delaware, Schneider moved in 1985 to Drexel University where, over the next seven years, he served in several top administrative positions, including senior vice president, before becoming president at Norwich University in 1992. The oldest, private military institution in the U.S., Norwich is known for its "citizen soldier" concept, considered the forerunner of today's ROTC program. In 1972, Norwich incorporated Vermont College in Montpelier, broadening its curriculum to include nursing, education and fine arts. Of the 3,000 students enrolled at the coed campus today, one-third are in the military. The 23rd president since the college's founding in 1819, Schneider has a busy schedule. In addition to running the school and heading the militia, he also must fullfill his admiral's duties each month, inspecting Coast Guard sites and visiting headquarters on Governor's Island in New York.