L. Jackson Newell photograph collection, 1920-2005

L. Jackson “Jack” Newell was born on October 11, 1938 in Dayton, Ohio, to Leonard J. and Henrietta W. Newell. His father was a physician and WWII Naval officer and his mother was a teacher and community activist. As a youth, Newell was deeply impacted by wilderness experiences, including a summer-long camping trip through the American West that he undertook with a friend at age sixteen. Newell attended Deep Springs College for two years before transferring to and graduating from The Ohio State University with a BA in history. He took his master's degree in American history at Duke University. Newell taught at Clemson University, Deep Springs College, and the University of New Hampshire for six years before returning to Ohio State to complete a PhD. Newell earned his doctorate in educational leadership and history at Ohio State. Throughout his studies, Newell spent his college summers working at various national parks, including Glacier, Crater Lake, and Grand Canyon, working as a mule packer and fire fighter.

In 1974, Newell joined the University of Utah faculty. Soon afterwards, he was appointed dean of liberal education. A champion of liberal education throughout his career, Newell served twenty-five years as a professor and sixteen as dean of liberal education at the University of Utah. From 1995 to 2004, he worked as president of Deep Springs College, a two-year private college in University. With approximately 30 students at any given time, Deep Springs is one of the smallest accredited institutions of higher education in the United States. Returning to the University of Utah after his tenure at Deep Springs, Newell continued to teach the philosophy and ethics of leadership in the Honors College.

In addition to his career as an educator, Newell was a prolific writer, authoring or co-authoring ten books and over 100 articles. His works include: The Electric Edge of Academe: Lucien L. Nunn and Deep Springs College (2015); Maverick Colleges: Fourteen Notable Experiments in American Undergraduate Education (1996); and Matters of Conscience, co-written with Sterling M. McMurrin (1996). Additionally, Newell edited two scholarly journals, The Review of Higher Education (1987-92) and, with his wife, artist Linda King Newell, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (1982-87). In 2006, Newell published “En Route: A Journey of the Spirit” in Dialogue, an autobiographical essay discussing his withdrawal from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Newell has received the Hatch Prize for Teaching, the Distinguished Honors and University Professorships, the Joseph Katz Award for the Advancement of Liberal Learning, and the Deep Springs Medal. His many essays reflect his broad interests in culture, education, history, international travel, and wilderness. He and Linda King Newell have four children and nine grandchildren.