Mar­tin Snei­der was born in New York, grew up in the Mid­west, and edu­cat­ed at Har­vard, Uni­ver­stiy of Mis­souri, and Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­stiy of St. Louis. He was mar­ried for 55 years and recent­ly wid­owed. He has two mar­ried chil­dren, four grand­daugh­ters, and three careers. He was a ready-to-wear and fash­ion shoe mer­change for 25 years and co-CEO of a 3,000-store chain. Snei­der is an adjunct pro­fes­sor at Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty, an author, for­mer chair­man of St. Louis Chil­dren’s Hos­pi­tal and the Board of Direc­tors of Har­vard Busi­ness School, and a for­mer board mem­ber of Jew­ish Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­ter Asso­ci­a­tion. He is a 40-year mem­ber of Shaare Emeth Tem­ple in St. Louis.