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.