About Dr. George Watson

Dr. George Watson is a Parents Association professor emeritus of political science at Arizona State University. He retired from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2009. Coming to ASU in 1969 from Duke University, he served his first twenty-five years in the Department of Political Science before moving to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication to teach statistics, research methods, and media and politics courses that were regularly offered as part of ASU's distance learning instructional television and Web-based curriculum. Professor Watson has co-authored texts in research methods and in statistics, as well as a book on the politics of appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. He has consulted with staff in the United States Senate and the Congressional Research Service regarding the appointment process and maintains this website on the topic.

For much of the time between 1986 to 1997, Professor Watson served as director of faculty development program. During that time he helped establish the Consortium for Instructional Innovation, ASU's Rookie Camp for new faculty, and Arizona's Wakonse teaching community. Honored by the ASU Parents Association in 2002 with an endowed teaching professorship, Professor Watson was one of the seven charter members of ASU's Distinguished Teaching Academy. He is also a past president of the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning.

Professor Watson was also active in faculty governance, serving as president of ASU’s faculty assembly for the 2002-2003 academic year and of the Downtown Phoenix Campus in 2007-08. He was the 2007-08 chair of the Arizona Faculties Council, the representative body of Arizona's state universities to the Arizona Board of Regents. Retiring from this 39-year career at ASU, Professor Watson now splits his time between homes in Washington and Arizona, teaching American Government classes online for the School of Politics and Global Studies at ASU. His partner, Dr. Mary Ann McHugh, is also ASU faculty, an online instructor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, and a textbook editor for Oxford University Press.

The photo above of Walter Cronkite and George Watson was taken at ASU in November 2005 in recognition of Walter's 89th birthday.

George Watson
Parents Association Professor Emeritus
School of Politics and Global Studies
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona 85287
g.watson@asu.edu

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