Our Heritage

At Watson we pause to reflect, to celebrate, and to preserve our rich and collective past; remembering always the golden achievements of our unique, remarkable history – the memories and our milestones.

We invite you to step back in time when we began our journey in Spring of 1984 and continue through our recent milestones to recall what we have accomplished.

To view our Milestones, mouse-over a bolded year and then the month from the timelines on the left.

From Hwa’s Son to Watson

Twenty-two years ago, in a small retail storefront in Libertyville, Illinois, two scientists visualized beyond just how things were in the pharmaceutical industry and pictured how things could be. Enlightened entrepreneurs, Allen Chao, Ph.D. and David Hsia, Ph.D. were determined to forge a new kind of pharmaceutical operation – combining the best of innovative science with creative business acumen; never forgetting that their underlying purpose was improving the health and quality of life for the people they touched through their products.

More than two decades later, these two visionaries have continued on their journey, now joined by nearly 5,000 equally enthusiastic employees across the world. Watson is a collection of imaginative individuals who have come together, acknowledging their differences while focusing beyond their own lifetimes to accomplish something truly worthwhile.

We invite you to step back in time when we began our journey in Spring of 1984 and continue through our recent milestones to recall what we have accomplished.