James Michael Watt (5 July 1914 – 17 September 1988) was a New Zealand rugby union player and medical academic.

[1] A wing three-quarter, Watt represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in 1936.

[2] Volunteering for military service, Watt was commissioned as a lieutenant in June 1939 and posted to the 2nd Field Ambulance, New Zealand Medical Corps.

in 1948 he undertook postgraduate study at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and gained a Diploma in Child Health and membership of the Royal College of Physicians.

In 1967, a paediatrics department was established at the University of Otago, and Watt was named as its inaugural professor, the first such position in New Zealand.