David Watson (academic)

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Occupation(s)Writer and professor of higher education, University of Oxford

Sir David John Watson (22 March 1949 – 8 February 2015) was a British academic and

Brighton Polytechnic from 1990 to 1992 and Vice-Chancellor of its successor the University of Brighton from 1992 to 2005. In 2005 he was appointed Professor of Higher Education Management at the Institute of Education and was Course Director of the Institute's MBA in Higher Education Management. Between 2010 and 2015 he was Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford and Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford
.

Early life and education

Watson was born on 22 March 1949 in

first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[3] He won a Thouron Award to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in intellectual history in 1975.[4]

Career

Watson's first post upon returning to the UK in 1975 was at Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education. His major responsibility was the development of a new suite of courses in the humanities leading first to a Diploma in Higher Education, and then to a BA degree. In 1981 he was appointed

Brighton Polytechnic. In 1992, Brighton Polytechnic was granted university status and Watson became the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton.[5]

In 2005 Watson retired from the University of Brighton and joined the

Institute of Education, then part of the University of London, as Professor of Higher Education, Course Director of its MBA in Higher Education Management and Co-Director of its Centre for Higher Education Studies (CHES).[1][6]

In 2010, he was elected Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford.[7] Upon taking up the position, he was also appointed Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford.[8]

Watson played a significant role in the development of higher education in the UK, serving on the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) (1977-1993) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (1992-96) where he chaired its Quality Assessment Committee. He was a member of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation National Commission on Education (1991-1993) and the

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education
, commonly known as the Dearing Committee (1996-1997). He was Honorary President, Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) (2005-2012), and Member of the Advisory Board, Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) (2002-2013)

Watson’s love of teaching, and his commitment to the importance of lifelong learning led to other significant roles: Chair, Universities Association for Continuing Education (UACE) (1994-98), Chair, Steering Committee for ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) (1998-2003), Chair, Advisory Panel for National Teaching Fellowships (2003-2005) and Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning (IFLL) (2007-2009), co-authoring its report Learning Through Life, which was published in 2009.[9] He was a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation from 2005 to 2015.[10]

Honours and awards

Watson was awarded a knighthood in 1998 for services to higher education. In 2009 he was given the

Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award.[9] He was also the recipient of nine Honorary Doctorates in addition to Honorary Fellowships of Queen Mary University of London and the City and Guilds Institute London, and Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music.[11]

Following his death, the University of Brighton announced its intention to name a new academic building and library in his honour.[12][13] The Watson building was rededicated in September 2018.[14]

Personal life and death

Watson was married to Betty Pinto Skolnick whom he met while studying in the USA. They had two children, Sarah and Michael, born in 1980 and 1984. Throughout his life Watson’s two passions were cricket and music. Whether in Cheshire, Oxford or Brighton he always found a cricket team to play for regularly. He was an accomplished pianist and enjoyed serving as repetiteur for the Oxford Operatic Society in the 1980s, giving occasional lunchtime concerts on Brighton’s Falmer campus with Andy Sherwood (violinist and leader of the Brighton Youth Orchestra), or accompanying students who came to the informal musical evenings he and Betty hosted at Green Templeton College.

He was Chair of the South East England Cultural Consortium (SEEC) (1999-2001), Chair of the Brighton Festival (2002-2005), Vice-Chair and Trustee, Friends of the Brighton Pavilion, Museum and Gallery (1998-2005) and Council Member, Royal College of Music (1995-2005).

Watson died on 8 February 2015, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.[13] He was aged 65.[9]

Selected works

Watson was a prolific author; in addition to his own books and those which he edited and co-authored, he also published some 400 monographs and pamphlets, chapters in books, articles and reviews.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "CV – Professor Sir David Watson" (PDF). Institute of Education. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Obituary: Sir David Watson". Broadcast. University of Sussex. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Sir David Watson (1968)". Clare Alumni. Clare College, Cambridge. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Tribute to Sir David Watson". News. Oxford Brookes University. 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Vice-Chancellor to step down at the university". University of Brighton. 20 June 2004. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  6. ^ Vowles, Neil (10 February 2015). "Tributes paid to academic who helped to create University of Brighton". The Argus. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Professor Sir David Watson to head Green Templeton College". News. Green Templeton College, Oxford. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Professor Sir David Watson". People. Department of Education, University of Oxford. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  9. ^ a b c Parr, Chris (9 February 2015). "Sir David Watson dies aged 65". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Our People | About".
  11. ^ "Professor Sir David Watson". University of Oxford. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Tributes to Professor Sir David Watson". University of Brighton. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  13. ^ a b Grove, Jack (12 February 2015). "Colleagues pay tribute to Sir David Watson's career". timeshighereducation.co.uk/. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Watson Building dedicated in memory of former Vice-Chancellor". brighton.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
Academic offices
New title Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton
1992 to 2005
Succeeded by
Preceded by
2010 to 2015
Succeeded by