Meet our Heritage Society Members


Meet our Heritage Society Members

John Newcomb ’66

It is Never Too Early to Join!

I arrived at Webb in the summer of 1962 after a disappointing year of “engineering education lite” at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The contrast was startling. After I recovered from the initial whiplash, I put my head down and didn’t look up for the next four years, as I tried to keep up with the curriculum and my classmates. Somehow, I made it through and began a career that included active duty service in the Navy, civil service engineering positions at David Taylor Model Basin, the Naval Ship Engineering Center and the Naval Sea Systems Command, and another twenty some years of private-sector engineering work on U.S. and NATO ship projects. The whirlwind continued until the end of the century, at which time my wife and I both took early retirement and embarked on new adventures. We traveled some and volunteered some. We built a new home on a tributary of the Rappahannock River in Middlesex County, Virginia. Cathy started and continues to apply her gift for working with young children to help struggling students succeed in the public school system. I returned to my interest in small boats and attacked long rectangular bits of wood to turn them into curved approximations of boat-like structures and prodigious amounts of sawdust. So far, two have been commissioned and the third is nearly complete. It’s hard to believe it has been 50 years since Webb, but in sum, it has been and continues to be a very fulfilling life.

It took some years for me to realize fully how unique the Webb experience is. Far from the safe zones associated with other schools of higher learning, Webb is constantly challenging, pushing and stretching students to do and achieve more. In addition to mastering the academic content, Webb forces the student to develop critical thinking, time management and work prioritization skills, and to set and achieve ambitious goals. This environment helps to build the character and work habits that enable a rewarding career and life. Webb’s full tuition scholarship model makes a Webb education more of a gift than something that is bought and paid for by the student. As a gift, this education is more valuable and meaningful than a traditional engineering education. As a result, I want to do more than just “give back” the value of my Webb scholarship – I want to do all I can to help ensure that the gift of a Webb education continues to be available to future generations of young men and women. So I support the annual Webb Alumni Fund every year (WebbEY), and I became a member of the Heritage Society by designating Webb as beneficiary of my IRA. Once I reached my 70th birthday, I began to take advantage of a provision in the tax code, made permanent in 2015, that allows distributions (including the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)) to be made by direct roll-over to a charitable organization such as Webb. In my case, this is also a tax-efficient strategy – a “win-win” for me and for Webb.

There are many ways to become a member of the Heritage Society, and it’s never too early to join – we have recently been joined by a member of the current student body! How you become a member may depend on your stage of life and your financial goals. The most important first step is to make the commitment of including Webb in your plans, then set the plan in motion and allow it to evolve and develop as the commitments and circumstances of your life change through time.

Back to all stories