Charles Roger Watson was a theologian, missionary, and educator.
Background
Charles Roger Watson was born in Cairo, Egypt, the third son of Andrew and Margaret (McVickar) Watson. His Scottish-born father had immigrated to the United States for schooling prior to a missionary career. In 1861 Watson's parents joined the United Presbyterian Church's American Mission, founded at Cairo seven years before. They devoted the remainder of their lives to missionary work in the Middle E. As a youth Charles learned about Egypt by exploring the ancient monuments of its capital.
Education
He became fluent in Arabic and French, while learning the cautious, methodical practicality of his ancestors. In 1889 Watson left Egypt to continue his education in America. After a year at Lawrenceville Academy, he enrolled at Princeton University, graduating in 1894. He spent a year at Ohio State University. He attended graduate school at Princeton Seminary, from which he received a divinity degree in 1899.
Career
Order, discipline, and thrift characterized his career; a spiritual experience persuaded him to train for the ministry. He taught for a year at Lawrenceville. After directing a Pittsburgh mission for one year, Watson was ordained a United Presbyterian minister in 1900 and accepted the pastorate of the First United Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. In 1902 Watson found a position that combined his interests and abilities when the United Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions called him to direct its overseas activities. As corresponding secretary, he provided home office support for hundreds of teachers, doctors, and missionaries in Egypt, India, and the Sudan for the next fourteen years. Recruiting personnel, arranging transportation, handling correspondence, and securing materials occupied much of his time. He also kept American supporters informed of the church's worldwide activities and traveled extensively both in the United States and abroad. Watson also demonstrated considerable literary talent. Egypt and the Christian Crusade (1907) outlined the work of various Christian organizations and pleaded for aid from wealthy Americans. He delivered the Princeton Seminary's annual student mission lectures, which were subsequently published as In the Valley of the Nile (1908). In this work, he attempted to acquaint potential visitors to the Middle East with the area's rich religious heritage. Watson described other United Presbyterian programs in Far North in India (1911), written with his assistant and successor, William B. Anderson, and The Sorrow and Hope of the Egyptian Sudan (1913). While serving on the Board of Foreign Missions, Watson became interested in establishing a Christian university in Cairo, comparable to Robert College in Istanbul and the Syrian Protestant College (later American University) in Beirut. A 1912 educational survey of the Middle East provided him with the opportunity to develop plans for the college. After 1916 he worked full-time to found Cairo Christian University in 1919, renamed the American University in Cairo, an interdenominational institution offering preparatory and university work to an Arab student body. Watson raised money, organized a board of trustees, and recruited teachers. Several visits to Cairo were required before property could be purchased and arrangements negotiated with Egyptian and British officials. The outbreak of World War I delayed the school opening. Meanwhile, Watson helped Dr. John R. Mott establish YMCA programs and develop refugee relief plans in Europe. He also represented American missionaries at the Versailles Peace Conference. Watson served as president of the American University in Cairo from its founding in 1920 until his retirement in 1945. He sometimes taught ethics and often lectured at student assemblies. Regular visits to the United States were necessary to raise funds and recruit teachers. Watson was especially successful in persuading wealthy Americans to support the university, and he developed close friendships with philanthropists such as Frederick E. Weyerhaeuser, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. , and William Bancroft Hill. The university also suffered setbacks. Especially after a series of antimissionary attacks in 1930-1932, Watson realized the need to alter traditional missionary methods in the light of growing nationalism in the Middle East. The school's interdenominational status and independent board of trustees enabled it gradually to secularize programs, and new activities were introduced in an attempt to meet Egypt's needs. Watson's willingness to change with the times set him apart from conservative missionary educators and made possible the university's continued development. Watson hoped to retire in 1938 but was persuaded by the trustees to remain in office. World War II prevented visits to the United States for nearly six years, and for a time Watson and the university staff took refuge in the Sudan. In 1945, after a near-fatal illness, Watson turned the university over to his hand-picked successor, John S. Badeau. Returning to America, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Bryn Mawr, Pa. , and was buried in Princeton, N. J.
Achievements
One of the best-known and most respected American educators in the Middle East, he personally supervised the school, encouraging the introduction of innovative teaching methods.
Connections
During a year at Ohio State University he met Maria Elizabeth Powell of St. Louis, Mo. , whom he married on November 20, 1902. They had four chldren: Charles, Jr. , Edward, Elizabeth, and Margaret.
