OLD WESTBURY, NY, July 25, 2019 — Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Denton L. Watson with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Watson celebrates many years’ experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Mr. Watson is a celebrated professor of American studies, media, and communications who has excelled with the State University of New York in Old Westbury since 1992. Formerly affiliated with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Mr. Watson served as the association’s director of public relations until 1985. While employed there, he notably enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside many modern civil rights movement leaders. Throughout his association with the aforementioned organization, he likewise spent two years as an editorial writer for the Baltimore Sun, which is owned by Tribune Publishing and is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper in Maryland.

For more than a decade, Mr. Watson has found success as a historical documentary editor on “The Papers of Clarence Mitchell Jr.” a nine-volume edition of the monthly and annual reports prepared by Mr. Mitchell. A civil rights activist and chief lobbyist for the NAACP between 1950 and 1978, Mr. Mitchell was also a regional director for the organization. In 2002, Mr. Watson authored “Lion in the Lobby: Clarence Mitchell Jr.’s Struggle for the Passage of Civil Rights Laws.” The book serves as a biography, chronicling his life story and mission of convincing the U.S. Congress to join the courts and the executive branch in upholding the Constitution in order to fulfill the NAACP’s egalitarian philosophy. 

An alumnus of the University of Hartford, Mr. Watson received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1964. Thereafter, he obtained a Master of Science in journalism and civil rights history with the graduate school of journalism at Columbia University in 1965. Mr. Watson is a member of the NAACP and the American Historical Association. He has spent 26 years on the Freeport Memorial Library board of trustees. Between 1967 and 1968, Mr. Watson was the recipient of an Interamerican Outer American Women Association scholarship in Chile. A celebrated Marquis listee, he has been featured in the 64^th edition of Who’s Who in America.

In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who’s Who community, Denton L. Watson has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.

About Marquis Who’s Who^®:

Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America^®, Marquis Who’s Who^®has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who’s Who in America^®remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis^®publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who’s Who^®website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.