Engineering Encouragement

Newman’s passion for service ignited at an early age. At 16 years old she was introduced to the world of civil engineering by a friend who was already in college, and she decided to follow the same path and “utilize her knowledge and skills to enhance the quality of life for humanity.” The pending question: Where would she continue her education?  

“Texas A&M was the only school I applied to during my junior year of high school,” Newman recalled. After receiving her acceptance letter and graduating from L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, the youngster traveled south to College Station. As soon as she stepped foot on campus, Newman experienced an instant camaraderie with her fellow Aggies. At that moment, she knew she’d found home.  

Although it was uncommon for women to pursue STEM degrees in the mid-1970s, Newman connected with her few female classmates as well as most of her male peers. “I developed a 50-year friendship with my classmates,” she happily shared. Creating such valuable relationships with her civil engineering peers at Texas A&M, paired with the top-notch education she received, helped the young graduate fearlessly dive into a male-dominated field and achieve professional success at organizations like the Texas Department of Transportation and Jacobs Engineering.  

And while some would guess that being a woman studying engineering at Texas A&M was her greatest challenge, Newman revealed that the financial burden she carried as a student topped the list. Having no scholarship support, she worked a full-time job to make ends meet, and she even returned home for a year after her first 2 1/2 years of college so that she could work to pay for the remainder of her education. “I like to say I crammed four years into six,” Newman said, acknowledging that this nontraditional path helped her learn the value of hard work and dedication.  

Motivated by her personal experience, Newman and her husband, Ron, began their giving journey through the Texas A&M Foundation in 2021 by establishing the Marcy Newman ’80 Dean’s Scholar Award, an endowed scholarship that offers one-year, $4,000 stipends to deserving engineering freshmen to help them offset the cost of tuition.    

A Win-Win Estate Plan 

Just as Aggies had proven to be helpful throughout Newman’s education and career, when she and Ron began thinking about estate planning, they sought the help of an Aggie estate planning attorney. “If you don’t plan for your assets, you have no control over who gets them once you’re gone,” Newman shared.  

During the estate planning process, the couple considered ways they could plan in support for Texas A&M, but Newman feared that the different types of giving methods would mirror her experience learning differential equations, something she considered her Achilles’ heel. With the help of the Texas A&M Foundation’s expertise, however, she and Ron discovered that naming the Foundation as a beneficiary of her IRA was an easy and logical choice. “We can use the account as we please during our lives, and once it’s time for the Foundation to receive the funds, it won’t be taxed since it’s a charitable organization,” Newman explained. “It’s a win-win!”