Health educator John M. Newmann dies at 70

John M. Newmann, an economist who spent much of his life battling kidney disease, which led him to a prominent career as a patient advocate, health consultant and educator, died Aug. 12 at a daughter's home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 70.

Sara Newmann said her father had congestive heart failure. He had lived in Reston, Va., for more than 20 years before moving to an assisted-living facility in Oakland, Calif., two years ago.

Newmann began his career as an international economist with the Ford Foundation. He had spent four years in Jakarta, Indonesia, when his kidneys failed in 1971 as a result of a congenital condition.

For years, he underwent dialysis treatments three times a week. At the same time, he attended graduate school and continued his work with the Ford Foundation in New York, where he funded scientific projects and examined human-rights issues.

He gradually began to focus more of his attention on educating patients, legislators and the public about kidney disease and organ transplants.

In 1980, Newmann founded a consulting company, Health Policy Research & Analysis, that conducted surveys and economic analyses for hospitals, government agencies and private corporations. Much of his work revolved around providing information about kidney disease and organ transplants.

"John epitomized the reality that productive life may continue after the onset of kidney failure," Eli A. Friedman, a nephrologist at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, said in a statement.

From 1981 to 1984, Newmann was president of the American Association of Kidney Patients. He advocated for greater research into renal disease and encouraged patients to minimize the effects of kidney disease by paying attention to exercise, nutrition and medical treatment.

John Michael Newmann was born July 11, 1941, in Highland Park, Ill. He graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts and received a doctorate in international economics in 1974 from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Mass. He received a master's degree in public health from Harvard in 1980.

His marriages to Mary Misch and Lisa Aronson ended in divorce.

Survivors include two daughters from his first marriage, Sara Newmann of Berkeley and Emily Newmann of Cambridge, Mass.; two brothers; and two granddaughters.