Po Chung Narrative
"In order to appreciate how deeply Professor Frank Watson affected me on my professional development and subsequent work, it's necessary to go back a few years. In 1965, I came to Humboldt State University from Hong Kong. My original program of study was in Fisheries Management, but who would have guessed that my years at Humboldt would prepare me for my roles as an entrepreneur?
"As a Humboldt undergrad with a pragmatic eye on the future, I decided to sign up for a series of business courses. These were practical diversions that helped my stay in the US, and helped to keep me away from the political trouble that was affecting Hong Kong at the time. I signed up for Professor Watson's business-law course, and this happy accident ended up giving me some of the deepest intellectual and ethics insights that would bloom with each coming year. These are insights and lessons that I still use today, truths I've applied in all my pursuits.
"Over three academic quarters, I had the honor of listening to an inspired, deeply reflective, and fully engaged professor. By providing a dynamic environment, where case studies were considered from all angles and possibilities, the class would tease out the subtleties that can hide in all decisions. When presenting a case, Professor Watson would challenge students to consider, and then reconsider, all practical, ethical, economic, legal and moral ramifications. All of this was done, every week and with no excuses, within the one hour and a half of the class. He was one hell of a teacher.
"Nearly a decade after I left the US, I was passing through California and I decided to drop by the Professor's home. I told him that I wanted to thank him, to give thanks for the example he set for his young pupil with the Chinese name. I told him that his class was the compass that I would turn to in my entrepreneurial growth, guiding me when the areas turned gray, helping me navigate the territory that all businesses must cross at some time or other. I thanked him because I realized that the insights he spawned would develop into the kind of personal integrity that I try to live up to everyday.
"Today, what I recall from Professor Watson's classes and discussion sessions is his quiet intelligence. Thanks to him, and to which I am indebted, I learned to apply his three simple guidelines. The first was that even if you can cut a moral corner and still not get caught, it's better in the long run if you just don't do it. Even if you can get away with something, he would say, doesn't mean you should take the easier path. The second guideline he gave us was that in a sensitive or sticky situation, you can learn a lot by putting yourself in the other person's shoes. This commitment to empathize had a tremendous influence in my life, over all the years since taking that class. The last gem I've carried with me is that if you do go to court, do it, but only if it's the last and only option. In his words, the words of a successful corporate lawyer for what used to be the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, when your day in court finally comes, the only winners are the lawyers.
"The lessons Professor Watson delivered to me and my classmates prepared us, perhaps me in particular, for our growth into becoming ethical business citizens. More than just helping us build a corporate society, Professor Watson showed me that an organization could thrive and still behave virtuously. By using the case-study deconstruction methods he used in our classes, I've found myself creatively guiding legal departments, executives and numerous startups.
"A person's legacy can be measured through different trajectories. One of these markers can be the degree to which a person's inspired excellence in others. I am pleased to help continue Professor Watson's valuable contribution to Humboldt's student population, and I hope that now, as then, his example can inspire the next crop of thriving, ethical leaders."
