Cronkite National Board of Advisors chair named ASU trustee

Craig A. Newman, chair of the National Board of Advisors at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been appointed a member of the newly established Trustees of Arizona State University.

Newman, a litigation partner with New York law firm Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, is serving a three-year term on the board. The Trustees of ASU is a philanthropic advisory board to ASU President Michael M. Crow and R.F. Shangraw Jr., the chief executive officer of the ASU Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises and invests private contributions for the university.

“I'm honored, proud and awed beyond words to serve and to contribute as a trustee,” Newman said. “To me, the university is a fundamentally important institution, and I want to help make it an even stronger force for progress and transformation.”

Newman, a 1979 ASU graduate, also is the chair of the Cronkite School National Board of Advisors, a group of 10 geographically dispersed alumni representing seven decades of journalism education at ASU. The board was created to establish stronger ties with the school’s growing alumni base, to provide leadership and support for the advancement of the school, and to assist with fundraising efforts.

“Craig Newman has been a great champion of Arizona State University and the Cronkite School,” said Cronkite School dean, Christopher Callahan. “I can’t think of a better person to help ensure the success of ASU as a New American University.”

The Trustees of ASU consists of advocates and alumni who are committed to securing additional resources for the university. Membership represents the breadth of ASU, drawing from various colleges and schools, as well as affiliated organizations around the country.

With more than 25 years of legal experience, Newman has litigated First Amendment cases on behalf of news and media organizations. He has served as general counsel of Americast, the Disney-led national media and technology consortium co-owned by the nation’s largest telecommunications companies.

Newman also is the CEO of the Freedom2Connect Foundation, a nonprofit that collaborates with Radio Free Asia to promote global Internet freedom through the development and implementation of open source technology. Additionally, he is a member of the Advisory Board of Newsy, a multiplatform, multisource news service for mobile devices.

Newman, who lives in Scarsdale, N.Y., holds a law degree from the University of Detroit and a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

He is a regular contributor to The New York Times’ DealBook, where he writes about media, finance, technology and law. He also contributes to The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and The Columbia Journalism Review.