Alan Andrew Watson

Who is Alan Andrew Watson?

Alan Andrew Watson, FRS, is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds, UK.

Watson was educated at the University of Edinburgh and was awarded the degree of PhD in 1964 for his thesis on the Physics of Condensation of Water Vapour. His main areas of interest were high-energy cosmic rays, ultra high-energy gamma rays and high-energy astrophysics.

Watson was Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds from 1984, having previously been Reader in Particle Cosmic Physics there, and retired in 2003 with the title Emeritus Professor.

Watson was instrumental in the creation of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina which gathered the data that led to major discoveries in cosmic-ray astronomy. The Observatory covers an area of 3000 km² with 1,600 particle detectors each placed at 1.5 km intervals. Watson was serving as the spokesperson of the Pierre Auger collaboration and was later given the title of Spokesperson Emeritus.

Watson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2000.