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
Barbara M. Watson 1983 at the age of 64. Barbara M. Watson Barbara Mae Watson (November 5, 1918 – February 18, 1983) was a United States diplomat who was the first black and the first woman to serve as an Assistant Secretary of State. Watson was born in New York City on November 5, 1918, the daughter of James S. Watson, the first black judge elected in New York State, and his wife, Violet Lopez Wilson, one of the founders of the National Council of Negro Women. Barbara M. Wilson was the sister of James Lopez Watson and the cousin of J. Bruce