Dwight Watson Is the New Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Dwight C. Watson is the new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. He is the seventeenth person to hold the position.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater enrolls nearly 12,000 undergraduate students and more than 1,300 graduate students according to the latest data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 4 percent of the undergraduate student body.

In accepting the post, Dr. Watson stated that “as a first-generation college attendee of modest means, I found that higher education provided me the functional, navigational skills that I needed to access future opportunities. With a focus on access, affordability, service, and success, my work now is to inspire learners to achieve and to remove barriers for students so they can have access to greater opportunities.”

Since 2015, Dr. Watson has served provost and vice president of academic and student affairs at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. Previously, Dr. Watson served as dean of the College of Education at the University of Northern Iowa, associate dean of the teacher education program at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, and chair of the department of education at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Dr. Watson holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in education from the University of South Carolina. He earned an educational doctorate at North Carolina State University.