# Vera Watson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Vera_Watson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Vera_Watson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Watson > Source revision: 1314935633 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Computer programmer and mountaineer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox person | birth_date = {{Birth year|1932}} | birth_place = [Dalian, China](/source/Dalian%2C_China) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|10|17|1932||}} | death_place = [Annapurna I](/source/Annapurna_I), Nepal | death_cause = Fall | occupation = Computer programmer | employer = [IBM Research](/source/IBM_Research) | organization = [American Women's Himalayan Expedition](/source/American_Women's_Himalayan_Expedition) | known_for = First woman's solo climb of [Aconcagua](/source/Aconcagua) | spouse = [John McCarthy](/source/John_McCarthy_(computer_scientist)) }} '''Vera Watson''' (1932 – October 17, 1978) was an American computer programmer, mountaineer and rock climber who made the first woman's solo climb of [Aconcagua](/source/Aconcagua), the highest mountain in the Americas. She also made several first ascents in the [Kenai Mountains](/source/Kenai_Mountains) in Alaska. She was a member of the successful [first all-women team to climb Annapurna](/source/American_Women's_Himalayan_Expedition), but was killed along with her climbing partner [Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz](/source/Alison_Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz) while preparing to attempt the unclimbed central summit of the mountain. == Biography == Watson was born in [Dalian, China](/source/Dalian) into a Russian family. The city had long had a Russian influence as the former [Russian Dalian](/source/Russian_Dalian). She lived in China until the 1950s, when her parents relocated to Brazil.{{Cite web |title=AAC Publications - Vera Watson, 1932 – 1978 |url=https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197934500 |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=publications.americanalpineclub.org |archive-date=2025-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414150949/https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197934500 |url-status=live }} She later emigrated to England and then the United States.{{Cite web |title=The 1995 SQL Reunion: People, Projects, and Politics - Vera Watson |url=https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=www.mcjones.org}} Her background helped her become adept at languages. Watson would later be hired at [IBM](/source/IBM) in [Yorktown, New York](/source/Yorktown%2C_New_York) when IBM research was looking for someone with Russian language skills.{{Cite web |title=The 1995 SQL Reunion: People, Projects, and Politics - Vera Watson |url=https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=www.mcjones.org |archive-date=2025-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250423024927/https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html |url-status=live }} In her thirties, Watson began mountain and rock climbing. First she climbed close to home, in the [Shawangunk Ridge](/source/Shawangunk_Ridge) and on [Mount Washington](/source/Mount_Washington). Watson later moved from Yorktown to work at [IBM Research](/source/IBM_Research) in San Jose, California in 1973.{{Cite web |title=The 1995 SQL Reunion: People, Projects, and Politics - Vera Watson |url=https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=www.mcjones.org |archive-date=2025-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250423024927/https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2024-07-26 |title=50 Years of Queries – Communications of the ACM |url=https://cacm.acm.org/research/50-years-of-queries/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |language=en-US}} She was initially active in [machine translation](/source/machine_translation), before moving into [database management system](/source/database_management_system) design. She worked on [System R](/source/IBM_System_R), which was the first implementation of [SQL](/source/SQL), a standardized database query language which has since become a dominant standard.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html|title=The 1995 SQL Reunion: People, Projects, and Politics - Vera Watson|website=www.mcjones.org|access-date=2019-10-30|archive-date=2021-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308054700/https://www.mcjones.org/System_R/SQL_Reunion_95/sqlr95-Vera.html|url-status=live}}Astrahan, Morton & Blasgen, Mike & Chamberlin, Donald & Eswaran, Kapali & Gray, Jim & Griffiths, Patricia & III, W. & Lorie, Raymond & McJones, Paul & Mehl, James & Putzolu, Gianfranco & Traiger, Irving & Wade, Bradford & Watson, Vera. (1976). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220225062_System_R_Relational_Approach_to_Database_Management/citation/download System R: Relational Approach to Database Management] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608014435/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220225062_System_R_Relational_Approach_to_Database_Management/citation/download |date=2023-06-08 }}. ACM Trans. Database Syst.. 1. 97-137. 10.1145/320455.320457. Watson was married to [John McCarthy](/source/John_McCarthy_(computer_scientist)), a pioneer in the discipline of artificial intelligence and creator of the [Lisp](/source/Lisp_(programming_language)) programming language. After moving to the western United States, Watson continued climbing and mountaineering on bigger peaks and soon started [expedition climbing](/source/expedition_climbing). In 1974, she took leave without pay from IBM to make the first woman's solo attempt on Aconcagua.{{Cite journal|last=Allen|first=Fran|date=1979|title=Vera Watson, 1932 - 1978|url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197934500/Vera-Watson-1932-1975|journal=American Alpine Journal|pages=345–347|archive-date=2019-10-30|access-date=2019-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030022713/http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197934500/Vera-Watson-1932-1975|url-status=live}} That year she would also climb [Mount Robson](/source/Mount_Robson) and make some first ascents in the [Kenai Range](/source/Kenai_Fjords_National_Park). === Annapurna climb === In 1978, Watson joined the [American Women's Himalayan Expedition](/source/American_Women's_Himalayan_Expedition) to climb Annapurna alongside her IBM colleague [Irene Beardsley](/source/Irene_Beardsley).{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/annapurnawomansp00blum_0|title=Annapurna, a woman's place|last1=Blum|first1=Arlene; foreword by Maurice Herzog|date=1998|publisher=Sierra Club Books|isbn=1-57805-022-7|edition=20th anniversary|location=San Francisco|url-access=registration}}{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Bruce |date=2014-01-14 |title=Bay Area sent two women on first climb to the top of the world. Another never came back. |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/14/bay-area-sent-two-women-on-first-climb-to-the-top-of-the-world-another-never-came-back/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=The Mercury News |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414150948/https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/01/14/bay-area-sent-two-women-on-first-climb-to-the-top-of-the-world-another-never-came-back/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Ruth |date=1977-10-10 |title=A Team of American Women Seeks to Scale Nepal's Heights |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/10/archives/a-team-of-american-women-seeks-to-scale-nepals-heights.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2025-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414150948/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/10/archives/a-team-of-american-women-seeks-to-scale-nepals-heights.html |url-status=live }} At the time, the first women's expedition made headlines. Watson shared, "Once we've done it, I think other women will take more initiative to get into mixed teams and become more aggressive about organizing their own expeditions".{{Cite news |last=Knickerbocker |first=Brad |date=February 22, 1978 |title=All-woman team of Yanks will take on Annapurna |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/illinois/arlington-heights/arlington-heights-daily-herald-suburban-chicago/1978/02-22/page-13 |work=Arlington Heights Daily Herald Suburban Chicago Newspaper Archives |pages=13 |via=Newspaper Archive}} On October 17, 1978 while roped to climbing partner [Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz](/source/Alison_Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz), the pair slipped near Camp V and fell to their deaths.{{Cite web |title=The HJ/38/8 WOMEN ON ANNAPURNA |url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/38/8/women-on-annapurna/ |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=The HJ/38/8 WOMEN ON ANNAPURNA |language=en}} Watson was 46 years old. At the time of her death, her husband made a statement, “She was a woman with a taste for achievement, and I encouraged her to make this ascent.”{{Cite journal |last=McCorduck |first=Pamela |date=2019-10-01 |title=A Turning Point |url=https://pressbooks.pub/thiscouldbeimportantbook/chapter/a-turning-point/ |language=en}} == See also == * [American Women's Himalayan Expedition](/source/American_Women's_Himalayan_Expedition) == References == == External links == * {{Citation | url = https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ai/catalog/vc718rv0318 | title = Reflections on trip to Nepal. Audio recording, part 1. | publisher = John McCarthy papers, Department of Special Collections and University Archives | place = Stanford University | last = Watson | first = Vera}}. * {{Citation | url = https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ai/catalog/gm309hm3001 | title = Reflections on trip to Nepal. Audio recording, part 2. | publisher = John McCarthy papers, Department of Special Collections and University Archives | place = Stanford University | last = Watson | first = Vera}}. * {{Citation | url = https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ai/catalog/mf540gj8707 | title = Reflections on trip to Nepal. Audio recording, part 3. | publisher = John McCarthy papers, Department of Special Collections and University Archives | place = Stanford University | last = Watson | first = Vera}}. * {{Citation | url = https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ai/catalog/rq045qr7075 | title = Reflections on trip to Nepal. Audio recording, part 4. | publisher = John McCarthy papers, Department of Special Collections and University Archives | place = Stanford University | last = Watson | first = Vera}}. * [https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/ft0p30021x/entire_text/ American Women's Himalayan Expedition, Inc. : files, 1974-1984], Online Archive of California *[http://aac-publications.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/aaj/1979/PDF/AAJ_1979_22_1_345.pdf Picture and obituary.] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Vera}} Category:American female climbers Category:Mountaineering deaths in Nepal Category:1932 births Category:1978 deaths Category:Deaths on Annapurna Category:20th-century American sportswomen Category:People from Dalian Category:American women computer scientists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vera Watson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Watson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Watson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.