Dr. Watson was born in New York and raised in Philadelphia. He graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and obtained his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Colorado, and went on to a fellowship in perinatology (high-risk obstetrics) at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
While in medical school, Dr. Watson met and married his wife. Their family includes two grown sons. Dr. Watson's recreational interests include soccer, skiing, fly fishing, and golf.
As Oregon's first community Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist, he established the Emanuel Perinatal Center in 1979 and founded the Northwest Perinatal Center at St. Vincent's Hospital in 1992.