Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, Order of the Bath, LLD, DSc, FRS, FRAeS (13 April 1892 – 5 December 1973) is considered by many to be the "inventor of radar". Radar development was first started elsewhere (see History of radar), but Watson-Watt worked on some of the first workable radar systems, turning the theory into one of the most important war-winning weapons.

Born in Brechin, Angus, Scotland, he was a descendant of James Watt, the famous engineer and inventor of the practical steam engine. After attending Brechin High School [1], he was accepted to University College, Dundee (which was then part of the University of St Andrews but became the University of Dundee in 1967). He graduated with a BSc in engineering in 1912, and was offered an assistantship by Professor William Peddie. It was Peddie who encouraged him to study radio, or "wireless telegraphy" as it was then known.