To attract new faculty to replace the many retiring longtime members, Newburn convinced the state legislature to allow salary increases and thus be more competitive in seeking highly qualified professors.

During his four-year tenure in Missoula, Newburn orchestrated several projects, including a reorganization of staff, the demolition of older buildings, and increasing pay for faculty and allotments for research.

He became the permanent president of ASU in 1970, a year in which he bucked with university administration and the Arizona Board of Regents by refusing to support the termination of Morris Starsky.

[6] In 1971, John W. Schwada became ASU's 13th president,[6] and Newburn conducted an eight-month-long study of the structure of British universities for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

[7] After his second yearlong tenure as interim president of Cleveland State, Newburn returned to the Phoenix area, where he died of a heart attack on August 25, 1974.