About Charles Gray Watson, MD

Charles Gray Watson, MD, was a professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and a mentor to generations of medical students and surgical trainees.

Born and raised in suburban Pittsburgh, Dr. Watson attended a four-room grade school in Rosslyn Farms. He was the third generation of his family to teach surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. In this role, he followed his grandfather Charles Masena Watson, father James Rose Watson, and uncle William Gray Watson. In 1996 the University named the Watson Family Professorship of Surgery in honor of Dr. Watson and his surgical forebears.

A graduate of Phillips Andover Academy and Princeton University, he received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1961. After a medical internship at the University Hospitals in Cleveland, he had his residency in surgery at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston under the tutelage of Dr. Francis Moore. Upon completion of his training, Dr. Watson returned to Pittsburgh and became one of the founding members of the full?time faculty in the surgery department. He rose rapidly through the ranks and became a tenured professor and chief of the general surgical division, and vice chairman for education in the University's surgery department.

Dr. Watson achieved renown for his deep knowledge and skill as an endocrine surgeon. For these qualities, he was honored many times by the world's community of surgeons. He was elected governor of the American College of Surgeons, president of the Pittsburgh Surgical Society, the Eastern Surgical Society, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He was also a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, and the Societe Internationale de Chinurgie. With his colleagues and students, he presented and published numerous papers in peer reviewed journals on the treatment of diseases of the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

Dr. Watson's masterful surgical technique was matched by his personal manner as a compassionate physician, professional colleague, and teacher of medical students and surgeons in training for more than 30 years. His generosity of spirit was widely applauded by the students, who awarded him three "Golden Apples" as the teacher-of-the-year at the medical school. Students called him the "velvet harpoon" in tribute to his witty but precise Socratic teaching technique. The University of Pittsburgh bestowed the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award on him in 1992. The graduating medical school class and the medical school alumni together dedicated the 1999 graduation "To Dr. Charles Watson: In appreciation of your dedication to teaching both the science and the art of medicine to a generation of physicians."

The impact of Charles Gray Watson on literally hundreds of surgical house staff and medical students at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has been profound. He was a role model as a compassionate and skilled surgeon for residents and medical students, a mentor for junior faculty, and a remarkable human being. Above all, he was the consummate teacher. His ability and dedication as a teacher, both in the operating room and at the bedside, were unique. The Charles Gray Watson Surgical Education Center will forever continue his commitment to the highest quality education of our medical students and surgical house staff.