John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy between partners, practitioners, other interested parties in specific policy areas. Through these efforts. Initial support for The Watson Institute came from the college's operating funds, with further funds from major foundations and corporations. John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy The John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy is an American non-partisan research institute on public policy located at Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, New Jersey. The Institute is named after New Jersey Assemblyman John S. Watson, the first African American to serve as the state's Chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Thomas Edison State College established the institute
Burl S. Watson of Science from the University of Alabama in 1957. After serving in the Army Engineer Corps during World War I, he rose through the ranks of the large corporation, eventually moving to New York City and working at the corporate office. He married Emitom Burns, daughter of state senator and agricultural innovator Robert Burns. They had two children, including Burl Stevens Watson, Jr., who went on to become Director of Corporate Finance of Cities Service Company. Burl Sr. had an oil tanker named after him, the "Burl S. Watson", which was built at the Sörviksvarvet A/B shipyard at Uddevalla, Sweden,