About Ryan A. Newton
Written by Ryan’s Father: Edward Newton
Ryan Andrews Newton ("Newts," as his friends lovingly called him) was a person blessed with endurance, a strong sense of integrity, and a never ending sense of humor. He was very kind-hearted and would often give his time and talents to make sure life was better for others. He was a friend to many, all of whom were affected by his infectious joy and knew they could count on Ryan in times of adversity. Ryan was born in New Brunswick, NJ as the older twin of Alex - together the younger siblings of Andowah, Edward Jr., and Matthieu - to Edward and Angela Newton on January 20, 1990.
Some constant themes throughout Ryan’s life were music, athletics, and social service. Ryan started his formal education at the John Adams School in North Brunswick, NJ in 1996. When he wasn’t with friends, most school days were followed by piano lessons or soccer practice and matches. Ryan played with the Jersey Knights soccer club for several years until he was invited to join the American Boychoir School. As a chorister, Ryan performed in numerous recitals, orchestral concerts, and operas throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, recorded several albums of traditional and international choral music, and participated in various programs to promote music education. He also continued to excel at soccer and ran cross country.
After graduating from the American Boychoir School in 2004, Ryan was admitted to Blair Academy where he played soccer at the varsity level for all 4 years and captained the team as a senior. He also ran track, co-captaining the team as a senior, and representing Blair in the state finals in the 400 meters. While at Blair, Ryan continued his artistic pursuits in performances with the Blair Singers and the Blair Academy Players. Ryan was a favorite among his classmates and peers and the faculty and staff and remained a devoted and loyal Blair alum. Ryan won the respect of his peers and the staff and generated a “faithful” following which continues to this day.
Ryan graduated from Boston University in 2012 with a degree in psychology. In college, Ryan continued his musical pursuits, singing with the Boston University Vocal Jazz Group and the Boston University Choral Society, and his athletic pursuits, playing with the Men’s and Intramural soccer leagues and BU’s Rugby Team, and serving as student athletic trainer with the MIT Men’s Soccer and Women’s Basketball Teams. In the classroom, on the athletic field, and at social gatherings, Ryan left an indelible mark on his BU classmates and developed a strong network of friends.
Ryan had a passion for socializing and bringing people together. He was always the mutual friend, the life of the party, and the shoulder to lean on. He had a talent for immediately befriending people he had never met. His taste for fashion always lit up the room as much as his personality did - whether it was yellow pants, a new fedora/sunglasses combination, or a kente cloth scarf. Ryan also worked for the Panamanian Council of New York writing grant proposals for several organizations and wrote and edited articles for publication in both Spanish and English. Ryan’s travels took him to Austria, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, Panamá, Spain, and Sweden.
In 2014, Ryan took an opportunity to work with Exponential Education in Ghana using a unique system of tutorials designed to reduce student dropout rates at the middle and high school levels. While in Ghana, Ryan also developed a curriculum for entrepreneurship for high school students. In addition, he combined his musical and educational backgrounds to develop his own rendition of the Broadway play, RENT, and staged it successfully, earning him high commendations by his program director colleagues and his students.
As Ryan described himself, “My life is a musical. Pretty much any phrase can remind me of a song and I will not hesitate to sing it. A ‘human jukebox,’ if you will.”
