Historical Faculty

Joseph Sneed joined the law faculty as dean and professor of law in 1971.  The previous dean, Kenneth Pye, actually resigned in 1970 to become University Chancellor.  Professors Latty, O’Neal, and Shimm served on an Executive Committee to administer the law school until the new dean arrived the following year.  A major development that occurred during Sneed’s tenure was that clinical legal education, which had been discontinued in 1959, was reintroduced.

In February 1973, Sneed was appointed deputy attorney general by President Richard Nixon.  In August of that year, Nixon appointed Sneed to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.  He served in that capacity over thirty years. 

Sneed completed his BB.A. degree at Southwestern in 1941 and an LL.B. at the University of Texas in 1947.  During World War II he served in the Army Air Forces.  Sneed began to teach law at the University of Texas in 1947 and later also taught at Cornell and Stanford.  He completed an S.J.D. at Harvard in 1958 and a LL.D. at Southwestern in 1968.  Although Sneed took semi-retired senior status from the 9^th Circuit in 1987 he maintained active with the court for years.  He died in 2008.

Sources:

Duke University, School of Law, Bulletin of Duke University School of Law [serial]

Joseph Sneed dies – longtime 9^th Circuit judge [perma.cc/2NKA-3VXS], SFGate.com (Feb. 14, 2008) (last viewed April 21^st, 2015)