L. Jackson Newell

An Ohio native, L. Jackson "Jack" Newell attended Deep Springs College in California, earned an M.A. degree in history at Duke University, and a Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of universities at Ohio State University.

Joining the University of Utah faculty, he served for 16 years as Dean of Liberal Education where he built a nationally celebrated arts and sciences core curriculum required of all undergraduates. He took leave to serve as president of Deep Springs College from 1995 to 2004. There he orchestrated a successful capital campaign to rebuild the entire campus and recharge the endowment. During his tenure, Deep Springs graduated seven Truman Scholars and a Rhodes Scholar.

Jack has been recognized with the Hatch Prize for Excellence in Teaching, designation as Presidential Teaching Scholar, appointment to the special rank of University Professor, and as the State of Utah’s first Professor of the Year.

His books include The Electric Edge of Academe: The Saga of Lucien L. Nunn and Deep Springs College (2015); Hope, Heart, and the Humanities (2016), Matters of Conscience: Conversations with Sterling M. McMurrin on Philosophy, Education and Religion (1996); and Maverick Colleges: Fourteen Notable Experiments in American Undergraduate Education (1996).

Newell has journeyed and photographed in Antarctica (2000), the Galapagos Islands (1990), the Arctic (1997), and China before modernization (1979). He and Linda King Newell have four children, all educators.