Ed Snider has been teaching business and marketing classes at MCC for 30 years.
A favorite of co-workers and students alike, Ed plans to finally “hang ‘em up” and retire at the
end of this school year.
Born in California and raised in East St. Louis, Ed’s family moved to Arizona when he was a teenager. He graduated from Carl Hayden HS and Phoenix College before earning his BA from Arizona State. Ed also completed his Masters in Business Education, also from ASU. He served two tours during the Vietnam conflict, specializing in communications aboard the aircraft carrier Bonne Homme Richard, the first ship ever commissioned by the US Navy. While in the service, Ed played baseball for the Navy.
Upon his return, Ed received a hands-on introduction to business as he went to work for W. T. Grant department stores. He also founded, with his wife Sue, several small businesses including an advertising agency, a cabinet shop and a restaurant called “Spaghetti Vendors” located in the T.J. Max Center in Mesa. Ed claims he worked for himself so he “could know what poverty was all about”.
Ed has always been active in school activities. I addition to numerous hiring committees and participating in the MCC Marketing Committee, he has been the Acting Department Chair for many summers. Ed was an advisor to the campus newspaper for five years, taking care of advertising issues, and was instrumental in founding the original MCC Service Learning Program. Ed has a long history with DECA, the Distributed Education Clubs of America. As a high schooler, he won a national DECA competition and accompanying scholarship to ASU. Since then, Ed has given back to hundreds of current DECA members and their schools, both as an advocate and an active participant in DECA activities for the past 30 years. Ed was also voted into the DECA Hall of Fame.
In his spare time, Ed enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking, backpacking and eating. He likes to watch sports on TV and does some vegetable gardening. Ed also was a volunteer coach for 10 years and was awarded the Oscar Mayer Arizona Amateur Coach of the Year for his efforts. Something others might find surprising about Ed: He won many dance contests in his youth. He especially liked to disco and jitterbug. He claims he learned to dance by watching American Bandstand. He received encouragement from his mother who told him he “would always get a date if he knew how to dance”.
When asked what he likes most about MCC, Ed quickly mentions the students. “They nourish me”, he emphasizes. “And the people, I love working with them. MCC is a great place to work.” Ed and Sue have made their home in Mesa for the past 13 years. They have one son (Jim), and a grandson (Maverick) who Ed dotes over every chance he gets. As he moves on to retirement, Ed will leave a very large hole to fill and an impressive legacy. Hopefully he will be a frequent visitor and advisor to the department.
