Arthur K. Watson
{{Short description|American businessman and diplomat (1919–1974)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Arthur K. Watson
|image=Arthur K. Watson.jpg
|education = Yale University
|order=21st
|ambassador_from=United States
|country=France
|term_start=May 6, 1970
|term_end=October 30, 1972
|president=Richard Nixon
|predecessor=Sargent Shriver
|successor=John N. Irwin II
|birth_name=Arthur Kittredge Watson
|birth_date={{Birth date|1919|4|23}}
|birth_place=Summit, New Jersey, U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|1974|7|26|1919|4|23}}
|death_place=New Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
|relatives = Thomas J. Watson (father)
Thomas J. Watson Jr. (brother)
}}
Arthur Kittredge "Dick" Watson (April 23, 1919 – July 26, 1974) was an American businessman and diplomat. He served as president of IBM World Trade Corporation and United States Ambassador to France. His father, Thomas J. Watson, was IBM's founder and oversaw that company's growth into an international force from the 1920s to the 1950s. His brother Thomas J. Watson Jr. was the president of IBM from 1952 to 1971 and United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
Early life
Arthur K. Watson—known as "Dick" by his friends and colleagues—was born in Summit, New Jersey.Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/14/archives/arthur-k-watson.html "Arthur K. Watson"], The New York Times, March 14, 1972. Accessed February 19, 2011. "Arthur Kittredge Watson, the younger son of Thomas J. Watson, was born in Summit, N.J., on April 23, 1919." He attended The Hotchkiss School and Yale University.
Watson was a benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, serving as a trustee of the Museum[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16028coll12/id/1221 Arthur K. Watson and Francis Day Rogers elected Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art]. Press release, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (Sept. 2 1969). Retrieved 5 August 2014 and as a member of the Museum's Centennial committee.[http://libmma.org/digital_files/archives/Trescher_Centennial_records_b18234550.pdf Finding aid for the George Trescher records related to The Metropolitan Museum of Art Centennial, 1949, 1960–1971 (bulk 1967–1970)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412110104/http://libmma.org/digital_files/archives/Trescher_Centennial_records_b18234550.pdf |date=April 12, 2019 }}. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
Watson was the Ambassador to France during the 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China. Watson's meetings with his Chinese counterpart Huang Zhen in Paris helped to begin normalization of diplomatic relations before the countries had direct ambassadors.{{Cite book |last1=McElvenny |first1=Ralph |title=The Greatest Capitalist Who Ever Lived |last2=Marc |first2=Wortman |date=2023 |isbn=978-1-5417-6852-9 |pages=429|publisher=PublicAffairs }}
Arthur K. Watson died as a result of a fall on July 26, 1974, in New Canaan, Connecticut, at age 55."[https://books.google.com/books?id=yeSH1uyhLwQC&pg=PA29 Arthur Watson dies]", Computerworld August 7, 1974 p. 29 Yale University's computer science building is named in his honor.
Sources
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060904110725/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_watson.html www-03.ibm.com]
References
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Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:20th-century American diplomats
Category:Accidental deaths from falls
Category:Accidental deaths in Connecticut
Category:Ambassadors of the United States to France
Category:Hotchkiss School alumni