Fortune magazine hailed Watson on its cover as "the greatest capitalist in history." In 1998 he was included on TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Retirement Watson left IBM in 1971 on his doctor's advice after having a heart attack. After recovering, he was appointed by Jimmy Carter to be Ambassador to the Soviet Union, serving from October 29, 1979 to January 15, 1981. Prior to this service he was the Chairman of the General Advisory Committee (GAC) which was set up by President Kennedy to give advice to the President about America's nuclear defense policy. He was an avid sailor and pilot. He named 7 successive sailboats after Palawan, the last in 1991. Watson sailed one of his Palawans further up the Northern coast of Greenland than any non-military ship had done previously, receiving the New York Yacht Club's highest award and the Cruising Club of America's Blue Water Medal. He traveled the route of Captain Cook in exploring the Pacific. He flew helicopters, jets, and stunt planes, and was the first private citizen to receive permission from Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 to fly to all the time zones of the Soviet Union (a route he had previously done as a pilot ferrying General Bradley) in a jet he piloted himself. Personal life Watson married Olive Cawley (1918–2004) in 1941. They had six children. He had homes in Greenwich, Connecticut; North Haven, Maine; Stowe, Vermont; Vail, Colorado; New York City; and Antigua. He died in Greenwich on December 31, 1993, of complications following a stroke. He was 79. Philanthropy Watson was the principal benefactor of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University and the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship (which supports students to study a topic of personal interest for a year) and other charitable gifts. Watson contributed to the Watson Pavilion at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut, which named the Olive and Thomas J. Watson Jr. Pavilion (a wing) after he and his wife. He was also the principal benefactor of Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine. He was on the Board of Directors of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and helped bring a factory employing over 300 people to the community that made cables, including ones for the US space program. Columbia University After leaving IBM, Watson donated tens of millions of dollars to Columbia University from 1975