Jan Barney Newman is a member of the Ann Arbor District Library board of trustees. She was first elected in 2006, and re-elected in 2010. She was re-elected to a third four-year term on Nov. 4, 2014, for a term starting on Jan. 1, 2015.
In the November 2014 race, Newman was one of three candidates who ran in this nonpartisan race for three seats on the board. She got 23,414 votes (34.72%). The two other seats were won by incumbent Edward Surovell (22,613 votes – 33.53%) and Jim Leija (20,868 votes – 30.94%), who was seeking his first term on the board. Incumbent Barbara Murphy did not seek re-election.
From her bio on the nonprofit Girls Group:
Girls Group Board Member, Jan Barney Newman, earned a BA from the University of Oklahoma, and an MA from the University of Michigan. She has been a resident of Ann Arbor for over 40 years. She taught in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, was a Director of the Bank of Ann Arbor and the founder of two businesses: Aristoplay, Ltd., an educational game company and Learning Express, Michigan, an educational toy store. Jan’s community commitments include having served on the Board of the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce and many non-profit organizations. She is also currently serving a second term as a Trustee of the Ann Arbor District Library.
She's also listed as a board member of Glacier Hills, an Ann Arbor retirement community.
Jan Barney Newman is married to M. Haskell "Hack" Newman, professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Michigan Health System.