Newton Gresham was a 1924 graduate of Sam Houston State Teachers College, later teaching in public schools and attending the University of Texas Law School.

Gresham was a member of the board of regents of the State Teachers Colleges of Texas from 1959 to 1965, serving as president from 1963 to 1965. In addition, he was a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the American College of Trial Lawyers, State Bar of Texas, Houston Bar Association, and American Bar Association.

He was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1977. The third University Library was renamed in his honor in 1985.