Bret Snyder, Ph.D. ’26, was named this year’s R. Wells Moulton Distinguished Alumnus in Industry. The Chemical Engineering Department was honored to welcome Snyder as the alumni speaker at graduation last week.
Snyder is President and Chief Executive Officer of W. L. Gore & Associates and Chair of the company’s Board of Directors. He became Chair in 2016 and assumed the role of CEO in 2020. But decades before he was leading this global, advanced materials science company, Snyder was a Ph.D. student in UW Chemical Engineering Department.
A student of Professor John C. Berg, Snyder was drawn to UW for its welcoming environment characterized by teamwork and collaboration. “The small class sizes, close faculty attention and teamwork on challenging problems made for a superb experience,” Snyder says of his first year in the doctoral program. “I enjoyed the chance for students and professors (and their projects) to get to know each other, with a good allowance for student choice and enthusiasm plus faculty match to the process.”
After graduating from the University of Washington, Snyder joined Rohm and Haas Company as a research engineer. There, he designed and implemented processes to scale up crop protectants, which eventually spun off into an independent company known as Agrofresh.
“It was a joyous and intense time, where I felt the power of making something real,” Snyder says of his time with Agrofresh. “I moved into operations and finance to get the product commercialized, which meant doing everything from delivering customer presentations to setting up systems for accounting, order taking, production and more.”
After Agrofresh, Snyder moved to W. L. Gore & Associates to work in new polymer processing and material development for medical, fabric and industrial applications.
“From the outset, I loved the open, innovative environment, the culture of trust and teamwork,” Snyder says. He began to lead teams and later became involved in long-term strategic planning. And in 2020, Snyder was named CEO of W. L. Gore & Associates – becoming the third generation in his family to lead the company. Snyder is the grandson of company founders Bill and Vieve Gore.
Snyder credits his doctoral training from UW Chemical Engineering with several skills that shaped his career. “I learned how to think, how to think critically, and examine a problem from multiple angles,” he says. “I learned a lot about how to organize information, present it, and focus on the key uncertainties. An engineering education is a fine thing and really means something.”
The Moulton Award recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions to engineering, academia, government, or service. Snyder has had an “exceptional” career, says Department Chair Elizabeth Nance. “His accomplishments across research, innovation and entrepreneurial activities – both inside and outside Gore – perfectly illustrate why he is so deserving of this honor,” she says.
On accepting the Moulton Award, Snyder says, “I am flattered and hardly recognize myself. I appreciate that this recognition gives me the opportunity to encourage and inspire others, and that means a lot to me personally.”
Snyder encourages new graduates to work hard, while also prioritizing life outside of work by focusing on only the most important things at work. He also recommends that graduates push themselves out of their comfort zones and take risks. “Don’t avoid risks and change because they’re uncomfortable. Be calculated in your risks, but take them,” he says.
Ultimately, Snyder encourages students to “know their hearts.”
“It’s not easy to know what you want, what you’re good at, what others will value by just thinking about it,” he says. “You have to get out there and test some things, then make adjustments… Life is partly a journey of self-discovery. You don’t have to have it all figured out to take the next step.”
Originally published June 18, 2026