In Remembrance: Richard “Dick” Newsome
Richard “Dick” Newsome—professor, ecologist, conservationist—passed away at the age of 92.
As much as he enjoyed teaching, Richard “Dick” Newsome, professor emeritus of biology, especially enjoyed being out in nature. His appreciation for the natural world began in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where as a child, he spent time playing outdoors and at his uncle’s farm. In high school, he worked in gardens and at a floral shop. He went on to study ecology at Western Michigan University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree, and then to the University of Saskatchewan, where he received his doctorate. He passed away in Beloit on May 7, 2024, at 92.
Newsome joined the faculty in 1965 and taught botany, ecology, and environmental biology at the college for 32 years. In the early 1970s, he helped preserve Newark Road Prairie, a pristine native prairie. “Dick was a wonderful, kind man who cared deeply about his students, colleagues, and friends,” recalls Yaffa Grossman, professor of biology. “He was an avid environmentalist who took every opportunity to educate people about nature. I learned something new every time we took a walk together on campus, at Newark Road Prairie, or elsewhere.”
He continued to be actively involved in the college and community well after his retirement in 1997. He co-founded the Welty Environmental Center in Beloit with the goal of educating young people about the importance of the natural world. The center remains a place where children and adults engage with biological, physical, and chemical elements of nature. He was also a founding member of the Rock County Conservationists, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the conservation of natural resources and restoration of natural wildlife habitat.
In 2007, he was awarded the George and Barbara Fell Award by the Natural Land Institute in appreciation for his land conservation work. At the time, he explained that natural environments develop in part when people are out of touch with nature. “It is important we preserve the intact ecosystems that we have,” he said at the time.
In 2018, during Reunion Weekend, Grossman organized the dedication of a newly-planted bur oak tree outside Pearsons Hall to honor Newsome for his many contributions as a faculty member. The tree replaced a 250-year-old heritage bur oak that fell in a storm the previous year. Grossman’s botany class, with the help of the college grounds crew, also planted a pollination garden on the site.
Newsome is survived by his children, Edith Newsome and Matt Newsome, four grandchildren, and a great-grandson.
