Barbara W. Newell

Barbara Warne Newell (born August 19, 1929) is an economist, career professor, and higher education administrator. She served as the tenth President of Wellesley College from 1972 to 1980 and was the first female chancellor of the State University System of Florida from 1981 to 1985.

During her time as the 10th President of Wellesley College, she founded the Center for Research on Women, which would later become the Wellesley Centers for Women. This institute is home to hundreds of research and action projects that have informed public policy, influenced practices, and shaped public opinion.

Newell also served as the first woman U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO from 1979 to 1981, succeeding Esteban Edward Torres.

Early life Barbara Newell (née Warne) was born on August 19, 1929, the daughter of Colston Warne and Frances Warne. She moved to Amherst, Massachusetts as an infant with her family, where her father taught economics at Amherst College from 1930 to 1969. “My home was a social center for the Economics Departments of Smith and Mount Holyoke, as well as Amherst. So my childhood was peopled by a great number of professional women and I just took it for granted that this is where I was headed. I also noted that the only women economists in the country were employed by women’s colleges.”

— Barbara Newell, Oral History Interview with Barbara Newell (WCW)

Education Newell attended Vassar College, noting that the historically women's college experience mirrored her childhood experiences with female role models.

After graduation, Newell was accepted to Yale's graduate program in labor economics, but was discriminated against on the basis of her gender, as she would be prohibited from teaching and completing fieldwork on the side. Newell ultimately attended the University of Wisconsin, which welcomed her with no such restrictions. Two years into the program, Newell lost her husband of five weeks, George V. Thompson, to polio. She took time off from her degree before her father encouraged her to return. She wrote her dissertation on Chicago and the labor movement. Newell received her M.A. In 1953 and Ph.D. in 1958, both in Economics.

Career After earning her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin in 1958, Newell was hired as Assistant Professor of Economics at Purdue University in 1959, making her the first woman hired by the Purdue School of Business. She applied for the position at Purdue University after her husband, physicist George Newell, was hired by the university. George Newell developed cancer in 1963 and died weeks later, leaving Barbara a single mother with a young daughter and an Assistant Professorship. Newell gained tenure at Purdue University in 1963, but returned to the University of Wisconsin Madison soon after to serve as Assistant to Chancellor Robben Fleming. In this role, Newell was tasked with creating a Center for Poverty at the university, an experience which would later be influential in her creation of the Wellesley Centers for Women during her presidency at Wellesley College.

After serving as an Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Pittsburgh, Newell was appointed as the 10th President of Wellesley College in 1971 and served in the position until 1980. Newell was inaugurated into the presidency on Thursday, October 26 at Alumnae Hall of Wellesley College. Near the end of her presidency from 1979 to 1981, Newell became the first woman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). After leaving Wellesley College, she served as the chancellor of the State University System of Florida (1981–85) and taught economics.

Title IX During Newell's time as Acting Vice President at the University of Michigan, the school marked its 100th anniversary of the admission of their first female student, Madelon Stockwell, in 1970. Amid the social turmoil of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the university was being closely watched due to allegations by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) regarding discrimination in female employment and admissions.

Wellesley Centers for Women In 1974, Newell helped establish the Center for Research on Women in Higher Education and the Professions (CRW). She served on the Board of Overseers and the Interim Advisory Committee for the center. Newell envisioned that the CRW would defend Wellesley as a women's college, include women's issues in the college curriculum, and link education and employment for the students. In 1995, under President Diana Chapman Walsh's presidency, the CRW merged with the Stone Center for Developmental Services and Studies to form the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). Since then, the WCW have completed and continue to perform extensive research and innovative projects to promote gender equality, social justice, and human well-being. Newell's impact lasts to this day, and the Centers serve as a leading institution that takes action on various topics, such as education, child care, economic security, mental health, youth and adolescent development, gender-based violence, leadership, economic security, and society. This program was developed with the Department of Mathematics of Wellesley and implemented with Wellesley students. On June 21, 1974, Newell and Federation President Irene Tinker quoted regarding the grant from the Carnegie Corporation: “The activities of the Center will provide a unique opportunity to study the subtle discrimination that women face in their career aspirations and choices and to develop effective programs to overcome such obstacles." University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, 1973-1976 Advisor to the Wesleyan University Board of Trustees, Middletown, Connecticut, 1970-1974 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Board of Trustees, 1976-1979 Chair, Evaluation of the University of Massachusetts for the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, 1988 Member, President's Commission on the Future of the University of Massachusetts, 1988–89 Governor's Council on High Technology, Florida, 1983-1985 Steering Committee on Presidents to Assist the Boston School Department, 1975-1979 Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Study Commission, 1990-1991 Florida Education and Employment Council for Women and Girls 1992-1997

Publications Books: Our Labor Force, Curriculum Resources, 1962 Chicago and the Labor Movement, University of Illinois Press, 1961 Book Chapter: “The Role of Women Presidents/Chancellors in Government Relations,” 1990, published as book chapter in Women at the Helm, American Association of State Colleges and Universities, 1991. Articles: “Title VI Issues as Viewed from a Chancellor’s Office”, Desegregating America's Colleges and Universities, Title VI Regulation of Higher Education, Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1988 “Development and Education”, Newsletter, Americans for the Universality of UNESCO, Vol. III, Issue Three, September, 1987 “Education with a World Perspective - A Necessity for America’s Political and Economic Defense”, Annals, Vol. 291, May, 1987 “Has Collaboration Facilitated the Integration of Statewide Systems in Advancing Teacher Education”, Partnerships for Excellence, School/College Collaboration and Building Integrated Teacher Education Systems Statewide, Proceedings of the 1985 Summer Institute, Washington: Council of Chief State School Officers, 1986 “How Florida Handled Admission Standards”, AGB Reports, January/February, 1986 “Future of the State Universities: Continuing Education and Research in an Era of Science-Based Industries”, The Future of State Universities, Rutgers University Press, 1985 “Florida Library Association, May 29, 1985, Orlando, Florida, Remarks”, Journal of Educational Media and Library sciences, Summer, 1985 “The Changing Requirements for College Admission”, Change Magazine, November–December, 1984 “Internationalizing Higher Education”, The Forum, National Mortar Board, Winter, 1984 “Women in Higher Education”, 1977, International Encyclopedia of Higher Education Co-author, “Conversations of Faculty Productivity”, No. 11 in a series published by ARA Services, Inc. Philadelphia 1973 “Social Pressures on Management - Equal Opportunity for Employment”, The Journal of College and University Personnel Association, Vol. 24, No. 1, December 1972 “Enter Now and Pay Later”, Educational Record, Winter, 1970 “Parallels of Negro and Women’s Education”, School and Society, October, 1970, pages 357-9 “Co-ops on Campus: The Militant Consumers”, National, Vol.209, No. 20, December 8, 1969, pages 635-6 “Impact for Change: Students in Action”, Women in Action, Center for Continuing Education of Women, University of Michigan, March 26, 1969, page 25 Film Strip: The Pulse of the Nation (with Lawrence Senesh), Join Council for Economic Education, 1961