Board and Staff

Dr. Harold Z. Snyder
Board Member Emeritus

Grandville High School, 1945
University of Michigan, A.B., 1950
University of Michigan, B.S. 1951
University of Michigan, M.S. 1955
Michigan State University, 1961, Ph.D.

Biography/Interests
Dr. Snyder was raised on a farm in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. He taught Jr. High, High School and Jr. College in the Grand Rapids school system. He then went on to Taylor University as a Professor of Biology and Department Chair. Harold was the co-founder of Au Sable Trails Jr. Science Camp and co-founder and director of the Taylor Field Station. Currently, he has founded and is developing Cedar Bend Farm, an Early American setting for teaching simple life style and Early American Christian Values.

Au Sable Institute that we know today has evolved from Dr. Snyder's original interest and vision of a junior science camp for kids and a biological field station associated with Taylor University. Around 1956, Dr. Snyder's father, a surgeon in Grand Rapids, purchased land and gave 65 acres to the non-profit corporation, Au Sable Trails Camp for Youth, Inc., that Dr. Snyder and the others had formed. It was on this land that the visionary operations began from scratch in 1958 - brought about by ardent dedication, a love of field teaching, and no lack of faith - and upon which Au Sable Institute is established today. Dr. Snyder and his wife Ellen currently reside in their home on the other side of Louie's Pond, across from the Institute.

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