John R. Watt, 1934–2025

John Robertson Watt, English-born son of a Scottish father and a Canadian mother, scholar, musician, humorist, artist, and beloved father of four and husband to Anne Sturgis, died peacefully on November 22, 2025 at home in Lincoln surrounded by family. He was 91.

Growing up in Rugby, England during the years of WWII, he attended the Rugby School and was then deployed to Malaya during the Malayan Emergency as a Lieutenant with the Gordon Highlanders before going to Oxford University to study history.

John earned his B.A. from Balliol College, his M.A. from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he focused on Chinese and Japanese history. While singing in the University Choir at Harvard, he met Anne, whom he married in Cambridge in December 1960. Their union thrived across six and a half decades.

A China specialist, John published books on late Imperial local government in China, public health in Taiwan, and public and military healthcare in China from 1930-1945 (English and Chinese editions). In later life, John combined his intellect, spirituality, and belief in the importance of public ethics in his book The Wisdom of the Covenants and their Relevance to our Times (2019). Written for a secular audience wanting to better navigate the Judeo-Christian wisdom tradition at a time of increasing culture and gender wars, political unrest, and religious fundamentalism, the book is a roadmap for living intentionally, embracing others with grace and mercy, and stewarding the earth.

John began his teaching career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964, but the sunny climes and counterculture of the West Coast proved irresistible, and he joined the experimental Johnston College in Redlands, Calif., as a founding faculty member. Embracing long hair, bell bottoms, and sideburns, John starred in the college’s musical productions, moderated spirited student debates, and charmed students and faculty alike with his English accent and self-deprecating humor.

As comfortable in the countryside as the ivory tower, John returned to Vermont with his family in 1974. There, he threw himself into homesteading with Anne, tending to stone walls, downed trees, gardens, timeworn furniture, and a very old farmhouse while also navigating miles of rural roads to his job as dean of Windham College.

Upon leaving higher education, he co-founded a consulting firm, Bury Nelson & Watt, to assist nonprofit organizations with strategic planning and fundraising. John continued his nonprofit work as executive director for the American Bureau for Medical Advancement in China, which promoted medical exchange between Taiwan and the United States. He later served as a liaison with the Ford Foundation to place Chinese graduate students in U.S. research institutions.

Having moved back to Cambridge, John’s final professional endeavor combined his expertise in China with his skills in fundraising. He and Anne created the nonprofit New England China Network, operating under the Primary Source umbrella, to strengthen K-12 teaching about China. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Freeman Foundation, hundreds of New England teachers and administrators attended Primary Source’s highly coveted summer institutes, followed by study tours in China where John transfixed participants as tour guide extraordinaire with his charismatic and theatrical retelling of Chinese history, people, and places.

Above all, John was a uniquely talented organist, pianist, and leader of chamber music. He had the ability to play almost any score on sight, and had a profound connection with the emotion of a piece of music. He was gifted with an astonishing musical ear, so that any piece could be instantly transposed into any key for the convenience of others. In every community he called home, John gathered people together to make music, organizing chamber groups with musicians of all ages. After returning to the Boston area, John and Anne also joined the Harvard Radcliffe Community Chorus. Music was deep in John’s DNA; it was one of the things he was able to enjoy until the end. As he listened to music, he often described a piece as an old friend.

Curious and informed, spiritual and sacrilegious, witty and sardonic, John was a true original who shared his gifts liberally with those he loved. He excelled at penning lyrical poetic tributes to family members and friends, and documenting special occasions with his trademark British wit. A world traveler throughout his life, John loved to paint and sketch everywhere he went. Deeply kind, modest, diplomatic, and a friend and mentor to people of all ages and nationalities, John added depth and texture to the lives of all his colleagues and friends.

John adored his family and frequent gatherings throughout the year. He was a devoted husband of Anne and proud father to three accomplished daughters, Alison, Fiona, and Jennifer, and a son, Duncan, who died at 14 months of age. John was also the loving grandfather of four amazing grandchildren: Alec, Nicholas, Arden, and Eleanor. John’s spirit, love, and warmth remain in the hearts of his family and circle of friends. The universe is poorer for his absence.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his name to Primary Source. Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord, which provided this obituary. To share a remembrance or to offer a condolence on John’s tribute page, click here.