The associate director of Financial Aid at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point has assumed the position of interim director of an area that awards more than $37 million annually in financial aid for students.

Paul Watson, who came to UWSP 30 years ago, will succeed Phil George, who retired in December. Watson will serve in the interim until a search is completed for a new director.

A graduate of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., he has pursued graduate studies at UW-Whitewater. Before coming to UWSP, Watson was a counselor at the Wisconsin School of the Deaf in Delavan and at Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa.

He is a member of the Wisconsin Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Watson and his wife, Donna, have two grown daughters.