The Brigham Young University political science professor applied his knowledge and people skills to sticky situations in South Africa, Israel and Nauvoo, Ill.
"He would try to put salve on the wounds and balm on the situations to make the world better," said Ted Wilson, who succeeded Snow as director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics.
Snow died Tuesday night in a car accident in Provo.
He was set to teach his final semester this summer at BYU, focusing on African government, and had been tapped to serve as his college's convocation speaker in August.
"R.J. was an extraordinary academic leader who helped build multiple universities. He was also a committed teacher, personally very warm and generous. All of us call him a model colleague," said David Magleby, dean of BYU's College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and former chairman of the Department of Political Science.
In addition to teaching, Snow also was a vice president at both the U. and BYU, and had been a member of the Dixie State College Board of Trustees since 2005. Snow was an active member of the Churcn of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and completed several missions throughout his life. He was in Johannesburg, South Africa when Nelson Mandela was released and apartheid was ending. He served at BYU's Jerusalem Center for Near East Studies in Israel when the intifada began, and worked as public relations director for the LDS Church-owned Nauvoo Restoration Inc. when the church was trying to get the Nauvoo Temple rebuilt.
"He had a wonderful way about him. He was very low key but very smart," Wilson said. "He just really loved people."
