The Young Professor

Abstract

It was a bright early September day in Hawaii. The year was 1962. I had arrived from Yokohama aboard the President Cleveland only a few days before. Totally unfamiliar with American campus rules, I had spent the morning learning the campus geography and registration procedures inefficiently. I was tired. After a quick lunch at a nearby cafeteria, I was heading back to the economics department building for no particular purpose. It was then that I noticed a young man walk out of the building and head towards me. He was rather short and medium built. But confidence and energy exuded from the man. Who was this man? He couldn’t be one of the wretched East-West Center grantees as I was. He looked Japanese but maybe not, he’s too different, I thought. As I was continuing my examination, an elderly gentleman suddenly appeared and started to chat with the man. I overheard the young man introduce himself as “Doctor Sato”. He belonged to a different class. That explained, I said to myself. I did not even know that Doctor was a general term for Ph.D. As I was walking passed him, he turned to me and asked if I was from Japan. The next thing he asked was if I was free that afternoon. Unsure of his intention, I mumbled a half-minded yes. Upon hearing my response, he followed up with another question: “Can you help me move then?” The whole conversation took less than 10 seconds.