(St. George, UT) - Dixie State College of Utah will host its seventh President’s Colleagues of DSC meeting of the 2009-10 academic year Monday, April 5, with a presentation by Dixie College historian Dan C. Watson. The meeting will begin at 12 noon, in Room 156 of the DSC Russell C. Taylor Health Science Center, located on the Dixie Regional Medical Center’s River Road campus at 1526 Medical Center Drive. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Watson’s presentation, entitled “A Century of Dixie State College Growth, and Its Presidents,” will highlight and discuss each of the institution’s 17 presidents. Watson served as administrative assistant to five former Dixie College presidents, and was the inaugural committee chair for four of those five presidents. In addition, he was executive secretary of the DSC Board of Trustees, and is a former president and secretary of the DSC Alumni Association. Watson has served on several civic boards, including positions with Leadership Dixie, the Dixie Center Control Board, and Dixie Regional Medical Center Foundation.

Watson is a St. George native who graduated from Dixie High School, Dixie College, and Brigham Young University. He also attended the University of Utah and Northwestern University for graduate studies. He served in the United States Army from 1943-46, and was secretary to the Commanding General at Fort Gordon, Ga., and court reporter (General Courts) at Fort Gordon and Fort Hood, Texas.

An accomplished writer, Watson authored the life story of his mother, Nan Milne Watson, and has composed 131 songs. Watson has also received a number of awards, including a Special Citizen Award from the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce, Distinguished Service Staff Award from Dixie State College, and a Community Service Award from BYU.

The President’s Colleagues of Dixie State College, founded 17 years ago by former DSC President Dr. Douglas Alder, is a group of retired professors and other professionals who live mostly in the St. George and Washington County area. Dr. Alder, who also started an Honors Program at DSC, organized the Colleagues as a way to increase academic activities on campus.

The Colleagues meet together once a month during the academic year to hear presentations from each other and/or invited guests. The final President’s Colleagues of DSC meeting of the 2009-10 academic year will be held on Monday, May 3, 2010, featuring a lecture by DSC First Lady Margaret Nadauld entitled “Recent and Future DSC Activities, as Seen by the First Lady.”