[1] His paternal grandfather was the New Orleans German-born investment banker and philanthropist Isidore Newman.
When he was 14, they moved back to New York, where he attended Riverdale County School.
magna cum laude in 1929 and his PhD in 1932, under the direction of Professor Rudolph J. Anderson.
He was a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Lambda Upsilon, Alpha Epsilon Delta, American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
[2] Newman received numerous awards, including the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 1961, the Morley Medal given by the Cleveland, Ohio section of the ACS in 1969, the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal by Yale in 1975, an honorary doctorate by the University of New Orleans in 1975, the Columbus section of the ACS award in 1976, and the Joseph Sullivant Medal by Ohio State University in 1976.