David H. Newby was born in Chickamauga, Georgia, to Henry Burdick Newby and Lucile Williams Newby on February 12, 1920. He is known for his service with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Huntsville, Alabama. He was involved with the transfer of von Braun’s team from the Army Ballistics Missile Agency (ABMA) to NASA in 1959.

Newby received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (Communications Option) from the Georgia Institute of Technology in May 1942 and participated in the cooperative education program. David Newby married Marjorie Robinson in 1942, and together they had two children: Donna Carol Newby Newman and David H. Newby III.

For his first professional job after college, Newby joined NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), as a research scientist for nine years. He worked in the Instrument Development Division where he was involved in aeronautical research for wind tunnels, airplanes, and rockets at the testing facilities in Wallops Island, Virginia. Newby assisted with the development of the wire-strain gauge and instruments that measure stress and force. He also aided in the development of one of the first uses of computers to collect data from the instruments.

In August 1951, Newby relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, and joined the Ordnance Corp at the Redstone Arsenal as Deputy Chief of the Rocket Test and Evaluation Lab. His task was to identify, design, and build testing facilities for solid rockets.

In April 1959, Newby was appointed as a NASA representative to the ABMA to oversee work being done with NASA funds. Later that year, he was assigned to the NASA transfer team to negotiate the transfer of von Braun's team from ABMA to NASA. The negotiations resulted in the transfer of 4,000 people, 350 million dollars of equipment, and 149 buildings from the Army to NASA. He was the first NASA employee in Huntsville and the only member of the team to have lived in the city before the activity.

NASA established the Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960, and von Braun appointed Newby to be the Director of the Technical Services Office. He was involved with the design and construction of facilities at Edwards Air Force Base, Seal Beach in California, Cape Canaveral in Florida, and a new central office building at Marshall Space Flight Center, later known as the “Von Braun Hilton” (Building 4200). Newby was a member of a committee that allocated the Mishoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for the Saturn program.

In late 1961, Newby filled a vacancy for the Associate Deputy Director for Administration for the Marshall Space Flight Center. He was fifth in the chain of command at Marshall Space Flight Center and assisted Deputy Director Harry Gorman in managing administrative activities of the center. As a part of this position, he worked with the Army and local city and state authorities on activities involving Marshall Space Flight Center, including the construction of the US Space and Rocket Center (USSRC).

In 1966, Newby was appointed by von Braun as a Temporary Voyager Program Manager. When the Voyager program was discontinued in July 1967, Braun reorganized Marshall Space Flight Center and appointed Newby as Director of Administration and Program Support in 1968, where he oversaw roughly 2,500 people in a variety of departments.

In 1969, he received a NASA medal for exceptional service from Dr. Payne (NASA Administrator), and for four months in 1973, he was acting director of the Public Affairs Office. In December 1973, he made the decision to retire.

After retirement from government service, he worked as a procurement manager and compliance officer for United States Boosters Inc. (USBI) under United Technologies between 1978 and 1989. He retired from USBI in 1989 and continued as a consultant for USBI and the National Academy for Public Administration (NAPA) until the end of 1991.

During his career, he served a variety of groups in the Huntsville area and assisted with proposal efforts developed by municipalities and private organizations. He played a key role in the proposal for a solar energy facility in Huntsville and was chairman of the committee for the City of Huntsville that proposed the Dr. Von Braun Civic Center (VBCC).

Beyond his employment and service to the community, Newby enjoyed fishing, golfing, and visiting the dog tracks in Florida. David Newby passed away in 2013 and is survived and remembered by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.