Max Snodderly attended public schools in North Carolina and was awarded a National Merit Scholarship to attend MIT.  He received bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering, followed by a doctorate in biology from the Rockefeller University and postdoctoral training in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.  He combines approaches from each of these disciplines in his research.

After completing his education, Max was on the faculty of the Schepens Eye Research Institute and Harvard Medical School for many years, and prior to coming to the University of Texas (UT) he was Professor of Ophthalmology and Graduate Studies at the Medical College of Georgia.  He is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and a recipient of the Garland Clay award of the American Academy of Optometry.

At UT, Max first was appointed as Professor of Nutritional Sciences, where he developed a course in International Nutrition with emphasis on social and environmental concerns and a course in Visual Neuroscience, which includes a nutritional component.  In 2011 his appointment was moved to Neurobiology and he continues to teach his Visual Neuroscience course.  He is also a member of the graduate studies committee of Biomedical Engineering, and supervises graduate students in that department.  In addition, Max is a member of the interdisciplinary programs of the Institute for Neuroscience (http://utexas.edu/neuroscience), and the Center for Perceptual Systems (http://www.cps.utexas.edu), that train graduate students from a wide range of departments.  He also participates in the seminars of the physical anthropology group at UT, where several faculty study evolution of primates, including their sensory capacities.