Gordon Samuel Watkins (March 9, 1889 – May 5, 1970) was an educator, author, and leading figure in the field of labor economics during the early to mid-twentieth century. Watkins also served from 1949 to 1956 as the first provost of the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

Early life and education

Watkins was born March 9, 1889, in Brynmawr,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, to a poor Welsh coal miner. In 1906, he emigrated to the United States and attended Fargo College Academy in Fargo, North Dakota, and Wheaton College Academy in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

. He received his A.B. from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

in 1914, his M.A. from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

in 1915, and his Ph.D. in economics from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1918.

Professional life

In 1925, Watkins joined the faculty at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

as a professor of economics and went on to serve as the dean of the College of Letters and Science from 1936 to 1946. UC president

Robert Gordon Sproul Robert Gordon Sproul (May 22, 1891 – September 10, 1975) was the first system-wide president (1952–1958) of the University of California system, and the last president (11th) of the University of California, Berkeley, serving from 1930 to ...

named Watkins as the first provost of the proposed campus at Riverside in 1949 and tasked him with establishing the new campus. The University of California, Riverside opened in February 1954 as a result of Watkins' successful efforts to not only integrate the new campus with the pre-existing

Citrus Experiment Station The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the orange and the overall ...

but to also gain widespread local public acceptance of the initiative. Watkins retired from UC Riverside in 1956 and went on to serve as the acting dean of the new

School of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

in 1961–1962, and dean 1962–1965. In his memoirs, UC president

Clark Kerr Clark Kerr (May 17, 1911 – December 1, 2003) was an American professor of economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and twelfth president of the University of California. B ...

portrayed Watkins as a tragic figure who died a broken man. Kerr came to visit Watkins in Santa Barbara after Watkins's retirement and found that "this once cheerful and effervescent personality was mute and despondent." Watkins came very close to creating one of the finest

liberal arts colleges in the United States Liberal arts colleges in the United States are undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States that focus on a liberal arts education. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica Concise'' defines liberal arts as a "college or universit ...

at Riverside, but his dream of a liberal arts college was immediately overtaken by politics and circumstances beyond his control, and the Board of Regents soon decided to turn Riverside into a full-fledged

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

. In addition to his career as an educator, Watkins also served in varying capacities as an advisor and consultant. He was appointed by Presidents

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

as a member of fact-finding and labor arbitration boards, was a member of a federal mediation board panel, was an advisor to the Danish Committee on Public Monopolies, and counselor and director of the Building and Loan Institute of Los Angeles.

Personal life

Watkins met Anna Davis during his time at the

and the couple went on to get married.

Death and legacy

Gordon S. Watkins died on May 5, 1970, in Santa Barbara at the age of 81. UC Riverside's religious center was named Watkins House in his honor as was Watkins Hall which was named for him in 1966. The Watkins Oak was later planted beside Watkins 1000 to honor him as well and Watkins Drive runs past the Chancellor's residence on the outskirts of campus. The personal papers of Gordon Watkins and his wife Anna were donated to UC Riverside.

References

External links

Gordon and Anna Watkins papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Gordon Samuel 1889 births American people of Welsh descent 1970 deaths British emigrants to the United States