Michael Newell '74 does more at Union now
than he ever did as a student.
The father of three Union students (Jessica '98, now in the Master of Arts in Teaching
program; Jeremy '00; and Sarah '02), an
ardent Union football fan, an active member of the Chemistry Alumni Society, and treasurer
of the Alumni Council, Newell finds himself on campus often.
As a married student, Newell lived off campus with his wife, Karen, and had little
interest in extracurricular activities. In the 1980s, he became involved with Union again,
first by attending football games.
“The games were another thing I could enjoy with my kids,” he says. “It
just got to be a regular thing.” Newell hasn't missed a home football game in years,
and the family regularly gathers from different corners of campus to cheer on the
Dutchmen.
Newell, a chemistry major, began a doctoral program in the subject at the University of
Georgia before deciding that what he really wanted was a sales position that would
incorporate his technical background in chemistry.
“I liked the independence and the fact that it was different everyday,” he
says. “And I liked that there was some connection between effort and income.”
Newell has been in sales and marketing for several high-technology chemical
instrumentation companies for the past twenty years with a focus on new businesses. He now
works for Rheodyne, a company that produces high-technology valves that are a component of
instrumentation for chemistry and biotechnology. Although he travels extensively
throughout the United States, he uses his home in nearby Charlton, N.Y., as his main
office since it gives him the opportunity to spend more time with his family and maintain
his 200-year-old home (the house has been in his wife's family for about fifty years).
Working from home also means that Newell has a better chance to be outside, whether
it's fishing, hunting, backpacking, or canoeing. A longtime lover of nature, he is a
licensed New York State outdoor guide and past president of the New York State Outdoors
Guide Association. For a short time, he ran a small, part-time company with a friend that
offered guided trips.
The idea for the company came on a hunting trip with some friends. “We were
sitting on the shore of Indian Lake and it was thundering and lightening to beat the
band,” he explains. “We were all under this huge tarp with a fire at one end and
a lantern at the other, sipping wine and eating hors d'oeuvres. It was then that somebody
said to me, 'Wow. You really know how to set a camp. I'd almost pay for this.'”
Newell was careful not to push his children to attend his alma mater. “I think
that Union is a great place to get an education and learn how to think, but the kids
always knew that they had the choice to go wherever they wanted,” he says.
All three of Newell's children have thrived at Union, he says. Jessica was a resident
assistant for two years, was active in the Philomathean Society, and did extensive
research with faculty in the Civil Engineering and Geology Departments; now working on her
master's in teaching, she teaches earth science at Schenectady High School. Jeremy has
worked as a research fellow for two summers with Professor Andreas Kriefall in the English
Department, is active in the College Republicans and the Philomathean Society, and is a
student writer for the Sports Information Office. Sarah is also involved in the College
Republicans, the Philomathean Society, and is a sports information student writer, but is
also a member of COCOA House (Children of Our Community Open to Achievement), an
after-school mentoring program, and is a writer for Concordiensis.
Karen, Mike's wife, worked to put Mike through Union but went back to college herself
when the children were in school. “She was a great role model for the kids because
they were old enough to see their mother going to college and working so hard at it. I
think it reinforced their work ethic,” he says.
Newell's children all say that they might one day encourage their children to seriously
consider attending Union — or at least go to the football games. “I can definitely
see that happening,” says Jessica. “There is such a big love for this school in
our family.”