Emory M. Sneeden, born in Wilmington, North Carolina; graduated Wake Forest University, in 1949, earning law degree in 1953. Attended Hague Academy of International Law; graduate of Management Program for Executives, University of Pittsburgh.
Served in the United States Army in World War II, later serving in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp in Korea and Vietnam. A graduate of the Army War College; appointed Chief Judge of the Army prior to retirement in 1975.
Served as Counsel and Chief Minority Counsel of the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly for the Judiciary Committee staff of Senator Strom Thurmond. In 1978 he was appointed associate dean and lecturer at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Later returned to Washington to serve as Chief Minority Counsel and Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.
Joined the McNair Law Firm in 1981. Served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1984 until 1986, then rejoining McNair Law Firm.
Was member of Board of Visitors, School of Law, Wake Forest University, and of the Founders of the Strom Thurmond Center, Clemson University.
Received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Wake Forest School of Law in 1985; listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law. In 1989 a courtroom at Hanaur, Germany, was dedicated to Judge Sneeden.