Alan Watt (diplomat)
| Sir Alan Watt CBE |
|
|---|---|
| Secretary of the Department of External Affairs | |
| In office 19 June 1950 – 24 January 1954 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alan Stewart Watt 13 April 1901 |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse(s) | Mildred Wait (m. 1927)[1] |
| Children | 3 sons and a daughter[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney University of Oxford |
| Occupation | Public servant |
Sir Alan Stewart Watt CBE (13 April 1901 – 18 September 1988) was a distinguished Australian diplomat. He attended Sydney Boys High School,[2] he first joined the (then) Department of External Affairs in 1937.[1] He served in the United States during World War II and was one of the Australian delegates at the United Nations Conference on International Organization.[3] In 1947 Watt became the Australian minister to the Soviet Union and in 1948 the first Australian Ambassador in Moscow.[3] In 1950 he returned to Australia and was appointed Secretary to the Department and was instrumental in negotiation of the ANZUS and SEATO treaties. He then served as High Commissioner to both Singapore and Southeast Asia (1954–1956), Ambassador to Japan (1956–1960) and Ambassador to Germany (1960–1962).[3] Leaving the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1962, he became a Visiting Fellow of the Australian National University, and Director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (1963–1969).[3]
A graduate of the Universities of Sydney and Oxford, he was a Rhodes Scholar.[3][4]
He wrote a number of books and articles in retirement, including The Evolution of Australian Foreign Policy 1938–1965 (1967, Cambridge University Press, 67-10782), Vietnam - An Australian Analysis (1968, Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire for Australian Institute of International Relations), and Australian Diplomat - Memoirs of Sir Alan Watt (1972, Angus and Robertson, ISBN 0-207-12354-3).
Awards and honours
Alan Watt was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1952,[5] and as a Knight Bachelor in June 1954.[6]
In 2011, a street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Alan Watt Crescent in Watt's honour.[7]
References
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| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Department of External Affairs 1950 – 1954 |
Succeeded by Arthur Tange |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by
Edward Ronald Walker
|
Australian Ambassador to Japan 1956 – 1960 |
Succeeded by Laurence McIntyre |
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- Use Australian English from February 2014
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Use dmy dates from February 2011
- 1901 births
- 1988 deaths
- Ambassadors of Australia to the Soviet Union
- Ambassadors of Australia to Japan
- Ambassadors of Australia to West Germany
- Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Australian diplomats
- Australian public servants
- High Commissioners of Australia to Singapore
- Australian Knights Bachelor
- Australian Rhodes Scholars
