The Howard Payne University Sports Hall of Fame will add just one new member in the spring of 2014. Dr. Don Newbury ’61, long-time speaker, writer and former Howard Payne president, will be inducted in a roast-style ceremony on May 2, 2014.
The Howard Payne Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Friday, May 2, 2014 at 7:00 pm in the Jackson Room of HPU’s Meyer Faith and Life Leadership Center. The event is also part of a HPU Sports Hall of Fame Weekend that includes the second annual SHOF Golf Tournament (four-man scramble) on Saturday, May 3.
Educated in Brown County, Don Newbury holds B. A., Master of Journalism and Ph.D. degrees from Howard Payne University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of North Texas, respectively, with post-doctoral study at Notre Dame. In 2008, he received Howard Payne’s highest award: The Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.
While in college, he was sports editor of the college newspaper, sportswriter for the local newspaper and sports director for the radio station. During a six-year stint as Publicity Director of the Lone Star Conference, he hosted a syndicated weekly radio program with LSC coaches; it was carried by radio stations across Texas. He also was a correspondent for several major Texas newspapers, and received the National Award of Merit from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in Kansas City for his work in intercollegiate sports promotion.During his 40 years in higher education, Dr. Newbury spent almost half of his career in presidencies, including Western Texas College in Snyder (1980-85) and at Howard Payne University in Brownwood (1986-1997).
Dr. Newbury was a member of the Council of Presidents of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and served as President of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association and its successor, the American Southwest Athletic Conference. He was the first President inducted into the conference’s “Hall of Honor,” and was author of the league’s “Code of Conduct” to promote sportsmanship.
Now a fulltime speaker and writer, Dr. Newbury’s reputation as an outstanding speaker is well-known. In his talks, he reflects on his years as a sportswriter and broadcaster, game official, sports publicist for the Lone Star Athletic Conference, president of an intercollegiate athletic conference and member of a national policy-making body for intercollegiate athletics.
He is in his 11th year of writing a weekly column, The Idle American. It now runs in about 200 newspapers with circulation totaling about one million.
Dr. Newbury is married to the former Brenda Pack of Alpine, Texas. They have three daughters-all of whom have been public school teachers – Julie (Mrs. Bryan) Choate of Burleson, Texas, Jana (Mrs. Kyle) Penney of Tyler, Texas and Jeanie (Mrs. Ryan) McDaniel of Burleson. The Newburys, who have six grandchildren, reside in Burleson.
You can find more information on the HPU Sports Hall of Fame Banquet and Golf Tournament at www.hpusports.com/shofweekend
