International Business Machines or Simply "IBM"

T. J. Watson Father and Son

Thomas J. Watson Sr. (1874 - 1956)
Thomas J. Watson Sr. in mid-1920's	1874 born in Campbell, N.Y. 1892 began his career at age 18 as bookkeeper in Clarence Risley's Market in Painted Post, N.Y. Later, he sold pianos and sewing machines in the same village. 1895 took a job as a salesman with National Cash Register Company and later became general sales manager. 1913 married Jeannette M. Kittredge, daughter of an Ohio industrialist. They had four children. 1914 joined CTR (Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co) as general manager. 1915 became president of CTR. After he was cleared of antitrust charges lingering from his tenure at NCR, Watson was promoted to president. 1924 CTR became IBM. 1937 became president of the International Chamber of Commerce. 1956 died at age 82. President Eisenhower declared, "In the passing of Thomas J. Watson, the nation has lost a truly fine American - an industrialist who was first of all a great citizen and a great humanitarian."
Thomas J. Watson Jr. (1914 - 1993)
Thomas J. Watson Jr. in 1939	1914 born in Dayton, Ohio. 1933 entered Brown University. 1937 graduated from Brown University and joined IBM as a salesman in downtown Manhattan. 1940-1945 served as a B-24 pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps. 1941 married Olive Field Cawley. They had a son and five daughters. 1946 returned from war and rejoined IBM, within a year he became vice president and a member of the board of directors. 1956 became IBM CEO. 1971 stepped down as chairman and CEO after suffering a heart attack. T. Vincent Learson became CEO. Watson said, "This is a very sentimental moment for me, because I am stepping down from a job that I have valued more than anything in my life outside of my own family." Watson remained on the board and served as chairman of the executive committee. 1979 served as U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union until 1981. 1985 stepped down from IBM board. Watson retired at age 70, ending more than 70 years of Watson family leadership at IBM. He remained chairman emeritus and a member of IBM's advisory board. 1993 died at 79 in Greenwich, Conn. "Perhaps the most important legacy of his leadership can be summarized in just three words: IBM means service," says IBM Chairman and CEO Louis V. Gerstner Jr.