Utah Tech University is inducting alumni Dr. Sydnee Dickson and Steven E. Snow into the institution’s Hall of Fame in recognition of their contributions to the state of Utah.
Utah Tech’s 23rd Annual Hall of Fame Ceremony will feature Greg Prince, a previous Hall of Fame inductee, as the keynote speaker. Prince attended then-named Dixie Junior College starting in 1965 and currently is the CEO of St. George-based biotech company Soft Cell Biological Research. Additionally, Gov. Spencer Cox, a sixth-generation Utahn and the state’s 18th governor, will deliver remarks. As governor, Cox has secured funds for affordable housing, promoted suicide prevention and mental health resources and implemented water conservation and infrastructure planning. He also signed early education and workforce program funding, launched the new Utah Sustainable Health Collaborative, and expanded opportunity for women, diverse communities and those living in rural parts of the state.
The Hall of Fame Ceremony recognizing Dickson and Snow is set to take place at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 7 in the university’s Kenneth N. Gardner Student Center Ballroom. The community is invited to attend and tickets, which are $35 each, are available at utahtech.edu/halloffame-RSVP.
Dickson has been an educator for more than four decades, serving as the Utah state superintendent of public instruction since 2016. She oversees a public education system of more than 670,000 students and developed and implemented state initiatives such as Dual Language Immersion and Digital Teaching and Learning. Additionally, she collaborated with legislators to secure record education funding and improved education policies. Her prior education experience includes teaching, school counseling, school and district administration and state policy work.
Dickson earned an associate degree from then-named Dixie Junior College, where she was a two-year Rebelette and served on student activity and advisory committees. She went on to earn a bachelor’s in elementary education from Utah State University and master’s degrees in school counseling and school administration and a doctorate in education leadership and policy from the University of Utah.
Fellow honoree Snow attended Dixie College, earned a degree in accounting from Utah State University and a law degree from Brigham Young University. In 1979, he partnered with David Nuffer and formed the law firm of Snow Nuffer. Over the next two decades, the firm expanded to twenty-five attorneys with offices in St. George, Salt Lake City, and Mesquite, Nevada. Today, Snow serves on Utah Tech’s National Advisory Board.
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Snow has served as the president of the California San Fernando Mission, an Area Authority Seventy, a full-time General Authority Seventy, president of the Africa Southeast Area and a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. Additionally, he served as church historian from 2012 until his release from church service in 2019. Born and raised in St. George, Snow is a descendant of Erastus Snow, who led the pioneers who settled Southern Utah in 1861.
Prior to the Hall of Fame Ceremony, Utah Tech will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly renovated Education Building at 2 p.m., also on Oct. 7. This fall, Utah Tech’s College of Education moved into the university’s former Science Building after it was remodeled to offer the traditional classrooms and active learning spaces necessary for the college’s expanding student body. Tours of the building will follow the ceremony, which will honor Washington County School District Superintendent Larry Bergeson, who has served in this role since 2013. This free event is open to the community, and the public is encouraged to attend.
Utah Tech’s College of education offers programs in interdisciplinary arts and sciences, family studies and human development and education. Learn more at colleges.utahtech.edu/education.