A Brief Biography of Darrell Mottley Newton

Darrell Mottley Newton was born in Memphis, Tennessee April 23, 1954 to Charles and Grace Marie Mottley. The family relocated to Chicago, Milwaukee and then to Sacramento, California where Newton completed grade school and a portion of junior high school. His family then moved to San Francisco after both parents received job promotions. Later Newton moved to Oakland where he began high school. After a death in the family, Newton and his mother returned to Milwaukee in 1969. He completed high school at Rufus King in 1971, attended UW-Whitewater until 1973, and then transferred to UW-Milwaukee. He completed his B.A. degree in 1976 with a degree in Mass Communications - Broadcast Journalism. During this same time, Darrell’s mother remarried becoming Grace Newton.

After graduation, Darrell Newton accepted a position working in academic administration at Milwaukee Pubic Schools in 1977. Two years later Newton accepted a position at UW-Milwaukee as an advisor and recruiter for the School of Allied Health. Simultaneously he began a full-time M.A. program at UW-Milwaukee in English. He later relocated to Chicago to accept a position with Illinois Bell in Telecommunications Management. In August of 1981 he completed his program at UW-Milwaukee and acquired an M.A. in English - Creative Writing.

Newton then accepted a Communications Management position with Avon Corporate Offices in Morton Grove, Illinois. However he later decided to return to school to obtain a long-desired Ph.D. He moved to Atlanta in 1984 where he began discussions with Atlanta University for admission and a lecturer’s position. A short time later an offer from Hyatt Regency - Atlanta in Communications Management caused Newton to delay his admission. Years later he accepted positions in Customer Service and Public Relations management with privately owned companies in the Atlanta area. In 1990 Newton returned to Milwaukee to continue working in academe. He accepted a position with WITI television news and soon after accepted a lecturer’s position in Communication at UW-Whitewater.

In 1993 Newton was accepted into the Graduate Program at UW-Madison under the direction of media and cultural theorist John Fiske. While working toward his degree, Newton continued to teach at Whitewater. He also held part-time teaching positions at UW-Madison, the Madison Area Technical College and the Milwaukee Area Technical College. Newton did consulting for UW System in Multicultural Affairs and worked as a Resident Hall Director for UW-Platteville. Many of these positions were held simultaneously.

Newton earned a second M.A. in Communication Arts from UW-Madison in 1996 with emphasis in Television Studies. After extensive research in England with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Newton earned his Doctorate in Communication Arts in May 2002 with an emphasis in Media Literacy and Cultural Studies. Over a ten-year period Newton has given numerous presentations and designed workshops in Media Studies, Communication and Cultural Diversity.

Newton currently serves as an Associate Professor at Salisbury University in Maryland, where he received a Welcome Fellowship from the Maryland Board of Education. He currently teaches Mass Communication, Media and Cultural theory, Honors Classes and Broadcast Writing. Newton serves on several campus committees and is active in the local arts community.