January 26, 2025
Track Legend Fred Newhouse, Former Olympic Gold Medalist, Dies At 76
He won both a silver and a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Fred Newhouse, a member of the United States 1976 gold medal winning 4×400 meter relay team, died on Jan. 20. He was 76.
Newhouse, who graduated from Prairie View A&M, also won an individual silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games for the 400m race.
According to Sports Illustrated, Newhouse earned a degree in electrical engineering from Prairie View, where he also became a three-time All-American and national champion. Later, he earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington.
Newhouse became the first Black referee for the renowned Texas Relays in 2004, and due to his contributions to the sport in Texas, was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.
Newhouse was also inducted into the USA Track and Field Officials Hall of Fame and was given the Heliodoro and Patricia Rico Lifetime Achievement Award from the same body.
“Fred Newhouse was a pillar of our community whose unwavering commitment to Prairie View A&M University will be remembered for generations to come,” said Dr. Donetta Goodall, chair of the Prairie View A&M Foundation. “He was not only a leader but a source of inspiration to everyone who had the honor of working with him. His legacy will continue to guide the Foundation as we build upon the foundation he helped establish.”
That legacy includes having an award, the Humanitarian Award, created by the then-dean of the College of Engineering, Austin Greaux, in 1970.
As Newhouse told the story to 1876 in 2020, “School was out, people were leaving, and Austin Greaux, dean of the College of Engineering, called me to his office. He told me, ‘I want to give you an award. You didn’t meet the criteria for the other awards that we give in the Engineering Department, but I felt after watching you for four years that you deserve an award.’
Newhouse continued, “So, he created one for me, and he gave me a plaque. He called it the Humanitarian Award. I valued him saying that much more than I valued being selected as Athlete of the Year. For him to single me out for what I call ‘making a difference in someone else’s life’ changed the course of my own life. It made me think differently about what’s really important.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Rhonda & Fred Newhouse Endowed Scholarship Fund, which provide ssupport and opportunities to numerous Prairie View A&M students.
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