James Bryan “Jim” Newman IV grew up in a military family with strong ties to West Point. His grandfather, James Jr., Class of June 1918, retired as a major general after a distinguished career as an Engineer officer. Among his many accomplishments, he was responsible for airbase construction in the European Theater in World War II, oversaw the construction of Washington National Airport, and planned the construction of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Jim’s father, James B. III, Class of 1942, was also an Army Engineer and saw combat in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He and Jim’s mother Lois were stationed with the occupation forces in Germany when Jim was born. Jim’s other home was West Point, where his father taught in the Department of Mechanics during Jim’s preschool years. When Jim entered West Point, his father was the district engineer in Nashville, TN, where Jim completed high school. During his cadet days, his family was stationed in Europe, which led to interesting visits, including the summer Jim spent hitchhiking across Europe. 

Jim joined the Class of 1969 with a “24-hour” sense of humor. He never lost that personality trait. Whether building a model Corvette, hitchhiking across Europe or devising “unique” pranks, Jim’s enthusiasm and resourcefulness were unmatched. It was in the halls of his Rockbound Highland Home that Jim also developed a burning desire to succeed, a personality trait that served him well both in his brief service in the Army and during his illustrious and significant career in medicine.

Jim was commissioned in the Armor branch and served briefly in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment before deploying to Vietnam. There he served in the 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry, earning the Bronze Star Medal. He asked for an inter-theater transfer and completed his service in an armor battalion in Germany. He resigned in 1974 and began his pursuit of a career in medicine.

On leaving the Army, Jim earned a Ph.D. in psychology and became a clinical neuropsychologist. He continued to give back to the military community through his tireless efforts with various VA entities. He eventually formed his own clinic in Kingston, NY.

As an outgrowth of his work with veterans, he developed a longstanding interest in the study of consciousness, which resulted in significant contributions to medical science’s understanding of that very central and biologically basic part of the brain. In 1996, Jim led the first “electronic seminar” of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. His performance during this electronic seminar led to an invite to make the same presentation in London, Ontario. 

In addition, Jim was a selfless contributor to the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, serving on its board of directors for two years and continuing to coordinate and update the series of electronic seminars for researchers involved in the study of consciousness. Throughout his career he wrote and presented papers on the study of consciousness. These papers garnered the attention of Bernard Baars and resulted in a major collaboration on a book, Essential Readings in the Scientific Study of Consciousness, published by MIT Press/Bradford Books. This scholarly work defined his spirit of perfectionism in attempting to understand the inherent truths in his chosen field of medical study.

Most men would have stopped here in specialization; however, Jim was not most men. As director of communication for the Society for Psychological Type, he wrote a brief book on the relations between theory of type according to Myers-Briggs and Carl Jung and other measures of personality. He dreamed of writing an introductory textbook on the brain and had excellent simplifying ideas for doing so. His untimely death meant the worthwhile dream did not come to fruition.

His loss deprives the medical profession of one of the most active advocates for subcortical sources of conscious experience. Fortunately, his legacy remains through studies, articles and books.

Jim was a dedicated Episcopalian and hoped at one time to join a monastic order. His seriousness about the things that matter most in life was unparalleled. That has been and will be his legacy. 

As a Vietnam veteran, Jim had the honor of being buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC. He leaves behind his daughter, Laura, and his former wife, Diana. Laura and her father were dedicated to each other and shared a love of singing. For many years, he and Laura sang in the choir at Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver, CO. This shared love and his heartfelt encouragement most certainly led Laura to pursue a career in the music industry. She currently works as a videographer and singer/songwriter in New York City. 

He will be missed, as a friend, a classmate, colleague, husband, father and significant contributor to the Long Gray Line legacy. 

And when our work is done
Our course on earth has run
May it be said “Well done!
Be thou at peace.”