Professor Keith Watson sadly passed away on 24 November 2024, aged 85 years, and will be greatly missed by his loving family, and his many colleagues and friends worldwide. He was a leading figure in the field of Comparative and International Education who will be remembered as an influential writer, insightful colleague and supportive mentor. The University of Reading was the home-base for Keith throughout his academic career, although his impact in a diversity of organisations, agencies and contexts is worldwide.
Keith was the outgoing President of BCIES (the British Comparative and International Education Society); in 1998 BCIES and BATROE (the British Association of Teachers and Researchers in Overseas Education) merged to form BAICE. Keith played a key role in the establishment of the International Journal of Educational Development (IJED). Reflecting his long-term engagement with issues of development policy and practice, he played a formative role with others in the establishment of UKFIET, founded in the late 1980s and which Keith led as Chair from 1990 to 1999.
Keith’s working life began in 1961 as a management trainee for the Metal Box Company, then Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) for the British Council at the East Pakistan Cadet College in Chittagong, followed by further British Council roles in Poland, Thailand and London. 1975 saw Keith move to a full-time post at the University of Reading as Lecturer in Education, to be promoted to Reader in Comparative Education in 1985, and then, in 1990, to Professor of Education (with special reference to Comparative and International Education), and Director of the Centre for International Studies in Education Management and Training (CISEMT).
This piece has been adapted from a longer obituary published in Comparative Education. You can also read a tribute on the BAICE website.