Farley Snell, a native Floridian, holds an A.B. degree from Florida Southern College and a M.Div. and Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He served as chaplain at Southwestern University for 27 years, from 1972 until his retirement in 1999. As the chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy, Snell was a rather unconventional chaplain who spoke on topical events within a religious context and who valued his time in the classroom. He coordinated the Religion Lecture Series bringing scores of internationally recognized scholars and theologians to campus. The university historian, Bill Jones, described Chaplain Snell as a person of independent mind who refused to be forced to do what he did not believe in, he was splendid preacher, always preaching from the lectionary. Snell spoke eloquently on the place of religious values in the academy and he was appointed Presider for the creation of the new Master Plan for the University. At the time of his retirement, the university published a book of his sermons entitled Sometimes a Surprising Word.

Snell retired to Asheville, North Carolina after 27 years at Southwestern. He was a frequent lecturer at Senior University in Georgetown, TX and now gives lectures around Asheville on religion.

Source for biographical information: Jones, William B. To survive and excel: the story of Southwestern University, 1840-2000. Georgetown, Tex.: Southwestern University, 2006.