Thomas J. Watson, Jr., papers (MS-1U-W1)

Biographical note

Thomas J. Watson, Jr., was born in New York on Jan. 8, 1914. His parents were Thomas J. Watson, Sr., and Jeanette Kittredge Watson. Watson, Sr. was the founder of International Business Machines (IBM).

Thomas J. Watson, Jr., attended the Hun School in Princeton, N.J. He graduated from Brown University in 1937.

After traveling in Europe and the Far East in 1937, Watson to went work as a sales representative for IBM. He married Olive Field Cawley in 1941.

During World War II, Watson joined the U.S. Army Air Corps as a transport pilot. He served with General Follett Bradley and his duties took him to the Soviet Union and the Pacific theater.

In January 1946, Watson resumed working at IBM. He served as President of the company from 1952 to 1956 and as Chief Executive Officer from 1956 to 1970.

Watson sailed his yacht the Palawan worldwide. He cruised in the Bahamas and the Pacific. He also participated in races. An avid skier, Watson often traveled to Zermatt, Switzerland, and Vail, Co., where he owned a home. He shared his passion for skiing with his friend Lowell Thomas.

Watson served on executive boards and committees for numerous civic and private associations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, the Smithsonian Institute, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation. He served on the boards of various universities, including Brown University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the California Institute of Technology. Government committees on which Watson served included the President's Advisory Committee on Labor Management Policy (1961-1968); the President's Task Force on the War Against Poverty; and President Jimmy Carter's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament (1978-1979).

From October 1978 to January 1981, Watson served as United States Ambassador to the U.S.S.R.

Watson was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees. He was awarded the Susan Culver Rosenberger Award from Brown University. He was the speaker at the Harvard University Commencement in 1981 and was granted an honorary Doctor of Laws at that time.

Watson died on Dec. 31, 1993, in Armonk, New York.