During a contract negotiating session between Argosy International and a Chinese aircraft manufacturer, a senior vice president representing the Chinese left the room for a smoke break.

A large material-supply contract was at stake. Sessions lasted up to five grueling days, each word in the bilingual contract under scrutiny.

Argosy’s CEO, Paul Marks ’83, followed the vice president. Marks told the man his head was spinning, using a saying by the Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi.

“He looked at me and said, ‘How do you know about Zhuangzi?’” Marks said. “He was really into Taoism. So we discussed Taoism for 10 minutes, walked back into the room, he turned to his team, and said, ‘Sign the contract.’”

In March 2017, Paul Marks ’83, CEO of Argosy International, speaks during the opening of the company’s manufacturing facility in Taichung City, Taiwan. (Photo courtesy Argosy International)

Marks, a �ֲ���ý trustee who was on campus for meetings last month, told the story during his Oct. 26 talk in Roger Williams Hall, the center for language study at �ֲ���ý.

Marks explained that he’d learned about Zhuangzi through a �ֲ���ý history course on Chinese intellectual history, taught by now-Professor Emeritus Dennis Grafflin. By engaging with professors like Grafflin and following his interests, plus a bit of “the �ֲ���ý serendipity,” Marks says he developed the ability to navigate the cultures, politics, and business climates of two interconnected but very different worlds.

All that was apparent throughout his time as a student. He went on a pioneering Short Term trip to China with a “maverick” sociology professor, George Fetter. After their tour guide bet him $5 that he couldn’t learn Mandarin, Marks became �ֲ���ý’ first student of Chinese, taking daily Mandarin lessons back on campus with a �ֲ���ý-hired Taiwanese language instructor, Barbara Leong.

Marks says that engaging with his �ֲ���ý professors, following his interests — plus a bit of “the �ֲ���ý serendipity” — have been the key to his life and career. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

After graduation, with a growing interest in all things China, Marks headed to Taiwan to study language at National Taiwan Normal University and history at National Chengchi University.

It was the mid-1980s, not long after the U.S. reestablished diplomatic relations with China, and Taiwan was still under martial law. So Marks wasn’t allowed to study the Communist Party and Cultural Revolution (instead, he was told to study the Yuan Dynasty).

Once, he was hauled in for questioning by the Taiwanese police after some classmates asked him about protests on U.S. college campuses and then held their own protest. “They showed me this propaganda film of how bad ‘Red China’ was, and they started screaming, ‘You want Taiwan to turn into this?’” Marks told his audience. “And I wasn’t scared anymore because it was so ridiculous. Then they drove me back to campus.”

Mathematics major Xuchong Shao ’20 of Shanghai and Chinese major Chelsea Anglin ’19 of Dayton, N.J., talk with Marks after his presentation. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

At the time, Taiwan was building its own fighter jet. Some of Marks’ classmates were working on the project and had been sent to the university to earn MBAs. They complained that they couldn’t acquire the aerospace materials they needed to build their plane.

“I listened to this for five months, and I said, ‘I’m going to set up a business and sell you the materials you need,’” Marks said.

Marks’ father advised him to “go work for someone and learn on their time,” so if he screwed things up he wouldn’t be left holding the bill. Instead, Marks created Argosy, which consisted of himself and one client.

Everything he needed to learn came in due time: how to run a company, the ins and outs of importing and exporting, the aerospace materials industry, and Chinese and American law and politics, the last of which Marks discussed at length with �ֲ���ý students and professors during his talk.

Paul Marks ’83 talks with Professor Emeritus of History Dennis Grafflin after his talk on Oct. 26. Marks considers Grafflin’s course on Chinese intellectual history to be instrumental to his work and life in China. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Argosy International grew to supply major aerospace companies with a range of composite materials and now has offices in the U.S., China, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Korea, France, and Australia.

When people ask Marks which �ֲ���ý course had the biggest impact on his business career, his answer is always the same: Grafflin’s course in Chinese intellectual history. He’s still in touch with his former history professor, who was at his talk.

“�ֲ���ý gave me the wherewithal to start a business, to believe in myself, and also the intellectual capability to analyze things and think about them logically,” Marks said.

Dr. William Hsiao, an economist at the Harvard School of Public Health and architect of Taiwan’s universal healthcare system, offers the presentation Taiwan’s Health Reforms: Lessons for the U.S. and Maine at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

The talk is part of the Civic Forum series at �ֲ���ý, presented by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the �ֲ���ý office that coordinates projects linking the college and community, the talks are open to the public at no charge. For more information, please contact 207-786-6202 or this kcloutie@bates.edu.

An international expert on health care finance, Hsaio is the K.T. Li Professor of Economics in the Program in Health Care Financing at Harvard. He served as principal adviser to Taiwan’s government as that country reformed its healthcare system in the 1990s. At �ֲ���ý, he will share his experiences in Taiwan and the lessons they hold for the U.S. as the nation works to implement statewide and national healthcare reform law.

Hsaio is the co-author of Getting Health Reform Right (Oxford University Press, 2004). While in Maine, Hsiao will testify before the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Healthcare Reform Opportunities and Implementation. He has been engaged by Vermont’s legislature to design options for a state healthcare system that includes a single-payer option.

Civic Forum presentations explore civic, political and policy issues significant to the local community, Maine and beyond. They often feature panels of local and national experts and lively question and answer sessions. Most of the events are broadcast on Maine Public Radio’s “Speaking in Maine” series.

Exploring topics of broad interest, �ֲ���ý College’s Civic Forum series begins in October with a panel discussion on education reform, followed by a presentation by an expert on health care finance.

In a discussion titled Wrestling with School Reform in Maine: National Strategies, Local Realities, national and regional education experts examine different approaches to reform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

The following week, Dr. William Hsiao, an economist at the Harvard School of Public Health and architect of Taiwan’s universal healthcare system, offers the presentation Taiwan’s Health Reforms: Lessons for the U.S. and Maine at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, also in Muskie Archives.

Presented by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the �ֲ���ý College office that coordinates projects linking the college and community, the talks are open to the public at no charge. For more information, please contact 207-786-6202 or this kcloutie@bates.edu.

Educational reform looks different to different actors — communities, school staff, district administrators, state and federal officials. The educational reform panel is designed to give the public an understanding of these different perspectives and how they play out in our local community and in Maine.

The public will also have the opportunity to learn about different strategies that have been used elsewhere to bring communities into the process of reforming their educational systems. The panel will involve presentations and an open discussion with people who will offer different perspectives on educational reform in our community, in Maine and beyond.

Presented in conjunction with the education department at �ֲ���ý, the education panelists are Glenn Cummings, deputy assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Education; Norm Fruchter, senior policy analyst at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, Brown University; Leon Levesque, superintendent of the Lewiston public school system; and Joan Macri, associate director of LearningWorks at Lewiston-Auburn College, University of Southern Maine.

An international expert on health care finance, Hsaio is the K.T. Li Professor of Economics in the Program in Health Care Financing at Harvard. He served as principal adviser to Taiwan’s government as that country reformed its healthcare system in the 1990s. At �ֲ���ý, he will share his experiences in Taiwan and the lessons they hold for the U.S. as the nation works to implement statewide and national healthcare reform law.

Hsaio is the co-author of Getting Health Reform Right (Oxford University Press, 2004). While in Maine, Hsiao will testify before the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Healthcare Reform Opportunities and Implementation. He has been engaged by Vermont’s legislature to design options for a state healthcare system that includes a single-payer option.

Civic Forum presentations explore civic, political and policy issues significant to the local community, Maine and beyond. They often feature panels of local and national experts and lively question and answer sessions. Most of the events are broadcast on Maine Public Radio’s “Speaking in Maine” series.

“This year’s Civic Forum series reflects a range of issues that we hope will be of interest to the community at large,” says Peggy Rotundo, director of strategic and policy initiatives at the Harward Center. “Our presenters bring a wealth of knowledge and diverse perspectives, which we are eager to share with everyone.”