2015 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April 2015 to serve as the Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. She began her duties with the agency on May 18, 2015. 

Prior to her tenure with NASA, Newman was the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge. Her expertise is in multidisciplinary research that encompasses aerospace biomedical engineering. 

Newman's research studies were carried out through space flight experiments, ground-based simulations, and mathematical modeling. Her latest research efforts included: advanced space suit design, dynamics and control of astronaut motion, socio-technical systems analysis and space policy. She also had ongoing efforts in assistive and wearable technologies to augment human locomotion here on Earth. 

Newman is the author of Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, an introductory engineering textbook published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. in 2002. She also has published more than 250 papers in journals and refereed conferences. She has served on numerous National Academies’ studies and panels on human spaceflight, human–robotic interaction and active learning for engineering and design education. 

Newman earned her Ph.D.  in  aerospace  biomedical  engineering  and Master  of  Science  degrees  in  aerospace  engineering  and  technology and policy  from  MIT.  She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame.