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January 2007 Vol. 77, no.
1S
A
Great Engineer
Berkeley has lost a great leader and a great man with the passing
of the Dean of the College of Engineering, A. Richard Newton. I was
privileged
to befriend Dean Newton when I served as ASUC President in 2004–05
while a student in his College, and I am writing this remembrance because
I do not know how better to pay tribute to a man who put so much of
himself into Cal than to share a few immediate and still-stunned thoughts
with his beloved campus.
Dean Newton was an exceptional head of the College of Engineering,
after an accomplished career in technology. His contributions in integrated
circuit design and electronic systems architecture are internationally
acclaimed, and his influence is broadly felt. He was able to parlay
his experience into a pioneering and modernizing tenure at the College
that assured Berkeley’s place atop the rankings. In a university
full of stars and innovators, Dean Newton stood still apart and above,
and his ability to reach out and relate to students made us wish that
all our professors and deans could be Newtons.
He seemed to have boundless energy. To see a man so vibrant, so brilliant,
and so visionary taken from us in the prime of his life is tragic.
The private tragedy is, of course, for his family and close friends,
and all our thoughts and prayers are with them as they cope with the
loss of a husband, father, confidant and more. A further, and rarer,
tragedy is the public tragedy of the loss of an original and stirring
leader. I had mused that one day we at Cal, or perhaps some other first-rate
university, might have been lucky enough to draft him as our chief.
His courageous, principled and inventive leadership certainly would
have earned him a spot in the pantheon of great university executives.
Wise guidance, uncommon inspiration and genuine warmth are qualities
that people yearn to find in a leader, and they are sadly oft in short
supply. He had them in spades, and it was a special thing to be around.
He was a man of vision in the way he led our College forward and brought
it into the 21st century. He was a man you wanted to, and did, believe
when he would passionately describe his vision. And he was a man comfortable
enough in his own vision to be able to connect closely with other people.
Perhaps even most important in his line of work, he was also a man
of humor, and no one at Cal told a better or more charmingly biting
(and true!) “Stanfurd” joke than he.
There is plenty to mourn, and plenty to be grateful for. I cannot believe
yet that none of us will have the opportunity to laugh with or learn
from him again, but we are blessed for the time that we had and the
imprint he has left. I have no doubt that Dean Newton will be remembered
as one of the most dynamic men or women to lead on our campus. I have
no doubt that Berkeley Engineering, thanks to his efforts, will continue
its reign at the top of education, research and public service for
years to come. And I have no doubt that, in his spirit, the College
of Engineering will continue to produce new leaders who will use their
extraordinary privilege, their hearts, minds and hands to uphold the
mission of the University and change the world for the better as he
has.
That is and will continue to be the legacy of Dean A. Richard Newton,
and for this I am grateful while we mourn. God bless Rich, and for
him, Go Bears!
—
by Misha Leybovich (B.S.’05 Eng. Physics)
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