Mary Naus Watters *72

Mary died March 27, 2026, of pancreatic cancer in Houston. 

Born Dec. 10, 1947, in Sheboygan, Wis., she graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1969 with a double major in psychology and mathematics. Mary earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Princeton in 1972. The subject of her dissertation is “Memory Search of Categorized Lists: A Consideration of Alternative Self-Terminating Search Strategies.”  

Having been awarded a National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship, Mary completed her clinical post-doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive therapy.  

After holding positions at Wellesley and Haverford, Mary joined the faculty of the University of Houston, where she remained for 30 years. She served as director of the Health Psychology Research Group, supervising more than 20 Ph.D. students, published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, presented at national conferences, and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, and health psychology. She received the university’s Teaching Excellence Award. Shealso served on the editorial boards of several psychology journals. 

Mary is survived by her husband, William C. Watters III; sons William IV and Christopher; grandchildren Asher and Wynter; and her brother, Peter. 

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.