CONWAY (November 5, 2014)—Diane Newton, vice president of Finance and Administration, was recognized today as the 2014 Arkansas Business Chief Financial Officer of the Year for Education.
Newton was honored at a special luncheon today held at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock. “I thank our leadership in the UCA Board of Trustees and UCA President Tom Courtway,” Newton said. “It’s not an individual effort. It’s a UCA community effort that made this award possible.”
The CFO of the Year Awards were categorized in six areas: education, private company, bank, nonprofit, and public sector, as well as lifetime achievement. Newton was one of three finalists in the education category.
UCA President Tom Courtway praised Newton’s work and the recognition, “We congratulate our friend and colleague, Diane Newton, on being named the 2014 Arkansas Business CFO for Education. This award is well deserved, and we are all pleased she received this important recognition from Arkansas Business. Diane has worked tirelessly for UCA, not only in her role as vice president for Finance and Administration, but also on various committees and in other campus and community endeavors. We are very proud she is part of our leadership team.”
Newton has been at UCA since 2010 in her current role. Prior to UCA, she was vice president for Business and Administration at Lander University, associate vice chancellor for Finance at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and controller at Southern Arkansas University. She began her career as an accountant at Henderson State University in 1984. Newton is a native of Gurdon, Ark.
Newton outlined some of her greatest accomplishments at UCA in the entry form submitted for the award, “There are so many great accomplishments that I was lucky enough to be a part of like building facilities, watching students graduate that needed my guidance, having the ability to fund great initiatives, seeing a balance sheet go from bad to good, and having to make really tough decisions and seeing them work well, but for me the satisfaction of a job well done comes from being part of a great team that was able to combine their strengths to make a positive impact.”
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