Remembering Dr. Rita Newton

Rita Newton, Ph.D., passed away on June 23, 2009, after several years of fading memory. Although she reached a point where the present was quickly forgotten and many discussions were repeated, she never forgot about her days as a teacher at Bradley or her many wonderful students.

If you were one of Dr. Newton’s students between 1969 and 2000, she had an impact on your life. Several former students wrote to express their thoughts about her after her death this summer.

Dean Teglia BS IE ’82—“My thoughts on Rita are first that her passion for teaching was remarkable. She has left behind many students whom she has had profound impact on their careers as successful engineers. That will be a lasting gift for many years. I am one of them. Thanks Rita.”

Debbie (Bontz) Andreadis BS IE ’76—“Dr. Newton not only took a sincere interest in all of us becoming good engineers, but also in knowing us personally. Her wealth of engineering experience from getting spaceships to the moon to improving a dairy herd’s production was to be admired. She was a great professor and a lovely woman. This is a sad time, but I feel confident that she enjoyed her life. Even when I visited her in assisted living, she would ask about fellow Bradley students and our families. I am sure that she was very happy to provide an endowment to assist Bradley female engineers for many years to come. It was my pleasure to know Rita and to have been one of her students. May her memory be eternal.”

Dianne Parke-Potter BS IE ’76—“I will remember Rita fondly for her smile and infectious laugh. Rita was a pioneer in the engineering field. She worked [in] and taught industrial engineering at a time when females were scarcely represented. When I came to Bradley and began to consider the potential for a career in engineering, knowing that there was a strong and caring woman on the faculty who had paved the way was inspiring. I still remember her sharing the linear programming modeling of the school bus system in our Operations Research class and thinking how great it was to be able to apply the IE techniques in service areas as well as industry. I feel very lucky to have been one of Rita’s many students.”

Dr. Newton’s lasting legacy is the funding of the Rita Newton Scholarship for Women in Engineering. Her considerable estate will be used to provide several women each year with the opportunity to share her passion for industrial engineering. Thank you, Rita.