Needham Resident Named Berklee’s Executive VP

January 31, 2025
• Betsy Newman assumed a top leadership role at the beginning of the year.

To the outside observer, Babson College and Berklee College of Music cater to vastly different students, but for Betsy Newman, the two institutions are linked by enthusiastic creativity and a desire to make waves.

At Babson — her alma mater — Newman served as vice president of student affairs and dean of students before stepping into a similar role at Berklee, where she’s worked for the last decade.

During Berklee’s search for a new president, Newman became the college’s interim executive vice president, a position that became permanent effective Jan. 1.

Newman, who lives in Needham, said Babson and Berklee students share similar approaches in their separate disciplines, though both channel their passions in distinct ways. As a higher education administrator, she hopes to “empower those kinds of thinkers and actors and leaders in the world.”

“Berklee students are some of the most amazingly talented and creative students that I’ve ever seen in my life, not just professionally but personally, and the world needs them now more than ever,” Newman said. “So why not have your job and your commitment every day to be to develop that next generation of creative leaders that can use their voice and their music and their talent and their art to communicate and enact all the change and opportunity that they want?”

As executive vice president, Newman will work alongside President Jim Lucchese, where she plans to continue to ensure Berklee students “thrive and succeed at each stage,” she said. They’re also growth-minded, especially after the college’s merger with the Boston Conservatory several years ago.

Working at an arts school has its unique perks, including exposing her two daughters to “every kind of show, every kind of music” over the past 10 years, Newman said.

Newman strives to help students “reach their full potential,” she said, especially as the field of higher education is rapidly changing.

“While I can’t do the craft myself, at least in making music, I do consider myself an entrepreneurial leader… I do feel that’s my skill, is coming in and leading in that creative and entrepreneurial culture,” she said, “and certainly making sure that our artists and creatives feel fully supported in what they’re trying to pursue, whether that’s a program I design or a support that we put in place.”

Some of those programs include the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as other initiatives focused on minority groups, such as RISE, which supports first-generation students. Newman also oversaw the Berklee Bridge, which provides students with a team of advisors during and after their time at Berklee.

Prior to moving to Needham, the family spent a couple years at an on-campus house at Babson. Newman first met her husband while they both attended Babson as undergraduates, and they both grew up in eastern Massachusetts.

“We joke that we’ve been in this two-mile radius of this community that we feel was formative,” she said.

Newman studied finance at Babson before receiving her master’s in higher education administration from Harvard University and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Apart from both Babson’s and Berklee’s campus cultures, Needham has served as an additional community in which her children could take part. While the Newmans aren’t necessarily musical “virtuosos,” their freetime is consumed by soccer — her youngest daughter, a junior at Needham High School, plays the sport, and Newman’s husband is still involved in Needham Soccer.

“Needham’s a very special home to us,” Newman said.

After the merger with the conservatory, Newman took on the role of senior vice president for student enrollment and engagement. She served as interim vice president for about 18 months.

Lucchese shared his admiration for Newman in a press release earlier this month.

“Betsy Newman brings a tremendous wealth of leadership experience to her role as executive vice president at Berklee,” Lucchese stated. “Her commitment to Berklee and our students sets a standard for excellence. I look forward to collaborating with Betsy on empowering our students to live creative lives on their own terms.”

Since joining Berklee, Lucchese has invigorated the college and the broader community it touches, Newman said. The change in leadership has allowed Newman to reexamine the Berklee community and help the college move forward, she added.

“I feel like the goal is to make sure [students] can fully realize their potential,” she said.