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Longtime benefactors of scholarships and academic
programs at the University of Miami, Bob and Judi
Newman have now made a commitment to deepen the
long-term connection students have with the University.
With their generous gift, the recently named Robert
and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center is well on
its way to becoming a landmark building—both in
purpose and style—on the Coral Gables campus.
“The minute students arrive here, it’s important
to have them start thinking about their relationship
with the University and their role as alumni,”
says Judi Prokop Newman, B.B.A. ’63, who also
is a University trustee. “A welcoming environment,
a place to gather, and a place to showcase traditions
of the University are all important for establishing
roots.”
Judi sees her UM education as the root of so
many wonderful twists and turns throughout her
life. “My parents didn’t see a need for me to
go to college,” says the St. Louis, Missouri,
native who earned a scholarship that ultimately
enabled her to attend. “It changed my life and
opened my eyes to a whole different world. I received
a social degree as much as an academic one.”
Armed with professional poise and valuable skills
in the then-burgeoning field of machine accounting,
Judi landed a job at an aerospace company in Los
Angeles, which is where she met Bob. The Newmans
now divide their time between Miami and Cherry
Hills Village, Colorado, where Bob is founder
of Greenwood Gulch Ventures, which provides financial
and strategic support to technology companies.
He also is cofounder and former director of a
software company, J.D. Edwards, which is now Oracle,
and he holds the South Florida franchise rights
for GolfTEC, a golf swing analysis and instruction
shop. After a 26-year career with United Airlines,
Judi retired in 1995 as general manager of metrics
and measurements for the computer division, responsible
for “everything that supports the computer activities
of the company,” she explains. “I put my education
to good use.”
"A welcoming environment, a place to gather,
and a place to showcase traditions of the University
are all important for establishing roots."
The couple, avid philanthropists in many cultural
and academic arenas, intensified their contact
with the University of Miami in the early 1990s,
when they began vacationing here on a regular
basis. “Virtually everyone we’ve met at the University
has shown a great amount of southern hospitality,”
Bob says.
Having directed much of their previous support
to the School of Business Administration, the
Newmans learned about the need for an alumni center.
“We have a common goal in what we want this to
be.”
The design elements the Newmans cite as their
favorites are representative of renowned architect
Michael Dennis’s strategy for creating a cozy,
inviting space for working, lounging, and entertaining.
“The fourth floor will have a glass room with
a balcony from which The Biltmore Hotel is visible—a
vista unlike any place on campus. It will be a
wonderful building,” Judi says.
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