Born in New York City, Stroud Watson earned a Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign in 1960 and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965.

In 1974, he accepted a position as a principle architect at Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. While there Stroud formed an Urban Design directorate, which became fundamental to bridging the gap between planning policy and architecture as implementation -- through the making of "civic places" for people. This clarified his personal goals and formed the basis of his architectural/urbanistic position that the city can be designed and, when excellence prevails in planning, design and implementation at all levels, the "living room" of the city will be cared for and enhanced by the community.

In 1980, Stroud and his family moved to Chattanooga where the University of Tennessee and the Lyndhurst Foundation provided him with an opportunity to return to teaching and simultaneously work directly with the city. His initial time in Chattanooga was critical to defining "downtown" philosophically and physically through a visual perspective of the past, the present and the future of Chattanooga. A shift was made from looking at the city as built objects to embracing the view from the urban public realm -- the streets, squares, parks and public buildings that collectively form the "living room" for all citizens to participate in the life of the city. In 1984, Stroud became the Urban Design Advisor to the city , and the Design Center (now housing eight professionals) was established, jointly funded by the City and the Lyndhurst Foundation and incorporating the work of students from the University of Tennessee School of Architecture, whose work became the catalyst for seminal projects like the 1985 Tennessee Riverpark Master Plan (in conjunction with Carr Lynch & Associates) and the 1982-1985 Miller Park District Guidelines (in conjunction with Koetter, Kim & Associates).

Stroud served as Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville from 1990 to 2002. His career also includes a visiting professorship at the University of Cracow in Oiland (1992-1996) and charrettes and consultation in Florence, AL, New Bern, NC, Macon, GA; Nashville, TN, Fayetteville, AR, and Knoxville, TN. He was also panel resource for the NEA Mayors Institute on Urban Design from 1992 to 1995.

Stroud's work with downtown Chattanooga has led to numerous awards, including the 1987 Urban Design Award presented by Progressive Architecture; 1989 Excellence in Architecture National Honor Award, AIA; 1987 Tennessee AIA Presidential Award of Merit for Distinguished Service; 1988 ACSA Faculty Design Award; 1990 AIA Award for Miller Park/Plaza; 1990 Fellow Urban Design Institute Award; 1997 ACSA Distinguished Professor of Architecture Award; 1998 APA/AICP Outstanding Planning Implementation Award; and the 2001 Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture, AIA.