2006 Business Hall of Fame

W.R. "BOB" WATT JR. TO BE HONORED AS BUSINESS EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

W.R. "Bob" Watt, Jr., President and General Manager of the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, will be honored Thursday, Oct. 19, as Fort Worth’s Business Executive of the Year during the 37th annual Fort Worth Business Hall of Fame dinner. The event is sponsored by Texas Wesleyan University, the Fort Worth Business Press and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Proceeds from the event benefit the Texas Wesleyan University School of Business Administration and Professional Programs by providing scholarships for business students.

W. R. “Bob” Watt, Jr. has served as president and general manager of the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show since 1978. Twenty years earlier he became a member of the Stock Show Board of Directors and in 1973, was named board secretary and general manager. Under his direction, the Fort Worth Stock Show has grown steadily. Since Mr. Watt assumed the presidency, the Show has expanded from 10 to 24 days and livestock and rodeo contestant entries have increased 62 percent. The overall prize purse for the livestock show and rodeo now approaches half a million dollars.

Watt has been involved with city officials in achieving many significant improvements at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, where the Stock Show has been held since 1944. These include the openings of the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in 1984, the world-class Will Rogers Equestrian Center in 1988, and the Kit and Charlie Moncrief Building in 1996 during the Stock Show’s Centennial Year.

In addition to his Stock Show duties, Watt is active in the Watt Cattle Company, a family ranching operation in Throckmorton County. He is a trustee of First United Methodist Church Foundation of Fort Worth and Harris Methodist Hospitals, and is a board member of the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the Texas Livestock Marketing Association. He is past president of the American Livestock Show and Rodeo Managers Association and past director of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He is an alumnus of Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from which he graduated with a bachelor of science in animal husbandry.

Richard L. Connor, editor and publisher of the Fort Worth Business Press and CEO and Chairman of Texas Community Newspapers, LLC, will deliver the keynote address at the Business Hall of Fame dinner. The Reverend Bert Honea, Jr., will follow with remarks of a friend.

Watt will be speaking at Texas Wesleyan University at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Martin Hall.

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