During his 40 years in higher education, Dr. Don Newbury spent almost half of his career in presidencies, including Western Texas College in Snyder from 1980-85 and Howard Payne University from 1986-1997. Educated in Brown County, Newbury has a Bachelor of Arts from Howard Payne, Master of Journalism from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. He also did postdoctoral work at Notre Dame. In 2008, he received Howard Payne's highest award: Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. In college, he was sports editor of the college newspaper, sportswriter for the local newspaper and sports director for the radio station. During a six-year stint as Lone Star Conference publicity director, he hosted a syndicated weekly radio program with LSC coaches carried by radio stations across Texas. He also was a correspondent for several major Texas newspapers and received the National Award of Merit from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for his work in sports promotion. Newbury was a member of the NAIA’s Council of Presidents and served as president of the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association and its successor, the American Southwest Athletic Conference. He was the first college president inducted into the conference's Hall of Honor and was author of the league's code of conduct to promote sportsmanship. Now a full-time speaker and writer, Newbury is well-known as an outstanding speaker and often reflects on his years as promoting Howard Payne and Lone Star Conference sports and serving as president of the TIAA and ASC and on the NAIA council.