Margaret C. Snyder

Dr Margaret C. Snyder
Born	1929 (age 87–88) Syracuse, New York
Alma mater	College of New Rochelle Catholic University of America University of Dar es Salaam

Margaret C. "Peg" Snyder (born 1929) is an American social scientist with a special interest in women and economic development, particularly in Africa. She was the founding director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), whose name was changed to UN Women in 2011. She was also a co-founder of Women's World Banking and of the African Training and Research Centre for Women.

Snyder was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929. As a young woman, she attended the College of New Rochelle, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1950, and the Catholic University of America, where she received a master's degree in sociology in 1952. Her M.S. thesis at Catholic University was a study of potential effects of the proposal for an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1953 she became dean of women for Le Moyne College in Syracuse, a position she held for eight years.

A sabbatical-year in Africa in 1961 changed the course of her career. Invited by the Kenya African Women's Association to work with African women in Kenya, she initially assisted the "Kennedy Airlifts" that brought students to American colleges in preparation for Kenya independence in 1964. Kenya women, led by Margaret Kenyatta, daughter of Jomo who would be the nation's first President, then sought her assistance with planning a Kenya Women's Seminar to consult women from throughout the country about what roles women should play in an independent Kenya. After two national seminars, Tanganyika and Uganda were included in an East African Women's Seminar

When her sabbatical year was over, Snyder decided to give up her position at Le Moyne in order to stay on in Africa, where, sponsored by the Women's Africa Committee, she would serve as an adviser to Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanganyika (UWT) and continue her work with various groups in Kenya and Tanganyika. In 1965 she became assistant director for the Programme of Eastern African Studies of Syracuse University's Maxwell School, and was assigned as field director of their Ford Foundation assisted doctoral dissertation research on village settlements in Tanzania, with an opportunity to complete her own dissertation research there. She also worked as a consultant to the State University of New York, and for the American Council on Education.

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