All UGA leaders after Snelling have been referred to as president (the previous title before the 1860 University reorganization that created the UGA Chancellor position).
He taught mathematics there when he graduated, then at the Georgia Military Institute in 1885–1886, as well as a 2-year stint teaching at South Georgia College in Thomasville.
Snelling came to the university in 1888 as an adjunct professor of mathematics and commandant of cadets.
Accomplishments of Snelling as the UGA Chancellor include: After Snelling's tenure as the university system chancellor, he became director of adult education for the state, a post he held until his death on September 19, 1939, in Athens.
The Snelling Dining Commons is a south campus facility named in his honor.