[citation needed] He received a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1954.
Competing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish track and field team, he won three ND monograms and established six school records in hurdles, of which three still remain.
[2] He was an NCAA Championship finalist and qualified for the hurdle events in the 1952 and 1956 U.S. Olympic Team tryouts.
[3] Newquist's industrial management career included General Electric in Utica, NY where he led aerospace programs and the development of the existing U.S. Navy E3A aircraft.
At the 3C-Honeywell firm in Framingham, MA, he produced minicomputers and simulators for the NASA Apollo Program.