The school was named after publishing magnate Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., founder of Advance Publications, who provided the founding gift in 1964.

[8] The department became a separate School of Journalism in 1934,[2][9] with Matthew Lyle Spencer serving as the founding dean.

[19] The building was dedicated by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who delivered his famous "Gulf of Tonkin Speech" on the Newhouse Plaza.

The $31.6 million 74,000-square-foot (6,900 m2) modern structure, designed by the former Polshek Partnership,[24] features the First Amendment etched in six-foot-high letters on its curving glass windows.

Newhouse 3 was dedicated on September 19, 2007, with a keynote address from the Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts.