Deeply Rooted
Family Values
Fuel Philanthropy
Jim Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson value the importance of education and giving back to the community, leading the CSUSB College of Education to name its building after the philanthropists.
by Mary Kenny
For nearly 20 years, Jim and Judy have been steadfast friends and champions of Cal State Bernardino, and have tirelessly demonstrated their commitment in countless ways and in many roles – as literacy advocates, philanthropic leaders, campaign chairpersons, foundation and advisory board members, and as benefactors for the arts.
As founder, president and CEO of J.R. Watson & Associates Development Corporation, a private commercial real estate firm based in Seal Beach, Jim has developed shopping centers, and residential and master-planned mixed-use projects. Judy serves as senior vice president of the company.
Together, they have had a profound impact on the university, its students, faculty and staff, and the entire San Bernardino community.
“When I became acquainted with the university, I saw the dedication, the talent, expertise and the warmth that the professors and staff showed to everyone – to us, to their students, to each other. It was very impressive,” Jim said. “As I came to understand the university better, they are very successful at educating the underserved youth and their families. They’re making a significant change in the communities that they serve.”
Both Jim and Judy’s belief in giving back and serving the community are deeply rooted family values, passed down from generation to generation. Jim lost his father at a young age and was fortunate to have a loving grandfather, who advised him, “Provide for your family and protect them. Live a life of integrity. Work hard. Strive for success, and when you can, and if it’s appropriate, give to others,” he recalled.
Judy, one of four daughters, was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her father, who immigrated to the U.S. from Veracruz, Mexico, was a kind and compassionate role model, she recalls, who would give anyone in need “the shirt off his back.”
Reading and literacy are particularly meaningful for the Watsons. In 2004, their $1 million gift established The Watson & Associates Literacy Center at CSUSB, which provides one-to-one literacy tutoring to students in grades kindergarten through 12 who have not yet achieved grade-level proficiency in literacy, or to any student who would benefit from individual support to advance their skills.
“It’s critical for our society to have a highly educated group of citizens,” says Jim. “Of the various things we’ve done in our lives, the Watson Literacy Center is the most important to us. The genesis of it came from both of our difficulties with reading early in life – it’s why we so strongly support the Literacy Center.”
Judy agrees. “As a youth, I had struggles with reading. I’m dyslexic. My problems are in reading and calculations. Numbers are a real challenge for me.”
In 2006, Jim and Judy served as co-chairs of the College of Education’s capital campaign. The highly successful campaign raised more than $3 million, with the Watsons contributing the lead gift. In recognition, the building’s student services center was named in their honor.
Jim has served in a variety of leadership roles at CSUSB, including chair of the board of the university’s Philanthropic Foundation and as a member of the executive committee and board of directors. For his dedication and commitment, Jim was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2010.
“As I was standing on the stage, I was feeling tremendous gratitude, appreciation, undeserving, and I was wishing that my father, grandfather, grandmother, my mother, my aunts, would have been there,” he says. “But I also felt their presence. And with this honor comes responsibility. And it’s not lightly given, lightly taken.”
Judy, too, has also taken an active leadership role at the university. In 2011, she served as honorary chair for the Latino Education and Advocacy Days summit at CSUSB and was affectionately termed, “La Madrina de Honor,” or honorary godmother.
In recognition of her distinguished service throughout the years, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2015.
“I was humbled,” she recalls. “I felt such an incredible sense of honor, and it was a wonderful privilege. And as Jim said, it comes with a lot of responsibilities. And I don’t take that lightly.”
In addition to their advocacy work in literacy, the Watsons are dynamic proponents of public art in San Bernardino and have been instrumental in partnering with the city to display CSUSB student art citywide.
In December 2021, the Watsons announced a transformational gift of $8.4 million to the College of Education. The gift will support student scholarships and establish a new Center for STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Education. The STEM Center will be the hub for outreach to K-12 students in the region and will include a Model STEM Exploratorium and a teacher residency program.
The gift will also support Project Impact, a new program in the college to recruit and prepare teachers to serve underrepresented students in public schools. Funds will also be used to enhance the Watson & Associates Literacy Center’s efforts in the Inland Empire. In addition, the gift will create a Dean’s Endowed Fund that will be used to support special projects and requests by faculty and students. This is the first such fund for the CSUSB campus.
In recognition of their generosity, the College of Education will be named the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education during an unveiling ceremony later this fall.
It will be only the fourth College of Education to be named in the 23-campus CSU system, and joins with distinction the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San Jose State University, the Kremen School of Education at Fresno State and the Michael D. Eisner College of Education at Cal State Northridge.
“We are particularly pleased that a truly fitting recognition of their important gift – the naming of the James R. Watson and Judy Rodriquez Watson College of Education – will further serve as a legacy to their generosity for generations to come,” said CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales. “Their passion for education and its power to change lives for the better will ensure a bright future for the countless children inspired and transformed by the graduates of the college.”
“It’s an incredible honor to see our name on this building,” says Judy. “We did a lot of work to get here, and it was rewarding for us to do that.”
“Going back to what my grandfather said,” Jim says, “[Give back] when you can and when it’s appropriate.” Jim suggested using the Rodriguez family name, he says, “to honor Judy, honor her family and also honor the community.”
A strategic investment in Cal State Bernardino students and the wider community it serves, Jim and Judy’s extraordinary generosity will be used to achieve extraordinary things in extraordinary ways, and will have a wide-ranging impact on the university and the region far into the future.