alumni news
ALICE PURSELL ’65 HELPS SPACE PROGRAM TAKE FLIGHT BY DUSTIN WUNDERLICH
Academia a perfect fit for Professors Attebery
A
lice (Latham) Pursell has never piloted an aircraft herself. Yet for nearly three decades, the nation’s space program has taken flight thanks to the efforts of this College of Idaho alumna. Pursell joined NASA in 1985 as a contract specialist. For the past 20 years, she has served as contracting officer for Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston— the agency’s center for spaceflight training, research and flight control. As contracting officer, Pursell is responsible for soliciting, awarding and managing contracts for Johnson Space Center as well as supporting the flight operations director in maintaining NASA’s training aircraft. “For someone who knew almost nothing about aircraft, I’ve learned a lot,” Pursell said. “I work in an office where we do everything from small purchases of supplies to multimilliondollar contracts for aircraft components and maintenance.” Maintaining a fleet of approximately 30 airplanes—ranging from T-38 jet trainers to the only WB-57 high-altitude science research airplane in existence—is a tremendous responsibility, but one that Pursell loves. “I enjoy working with the people, they’re very proud and passionate for what they do,” she said. “The contractors, the people who prepare the
By LARRY GARDNER
C of I alumni Brian Attebery ’74 and Jennifer Eastman Attebery ’73 have fulfilled their lifetime love of learning as professors at Idaho State University.
aircraft engines and do the tire replacements, they’re all very concerned about the safety of the aircraft and the people who fly them, many of whom are astronauts.” Pursell’s service at NASA has led to her receiving a Silver Snoopy—the astronauts’ personal award for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success—and the Space Flight Awareness Award, one of NASA’s highest honors for dedication to quality work and flight safety. As a reward, Pursell was invited to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to observe a shuttle launch. Pursell majored in business administration with a secretarial science focus at the C of I, yet she enjoyed the opportunity to study everything from psychology to history and even drama. The breadth of her studies at the College has come in handy in her role as a contracting officer. “Every day you learn something,” Pursell said. “I love that it’s never something you can go to work knowing exactly what you’re going to do that day.”
Alice Pursell ’65 poses in front of T-38s on display at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Success can be a difficult thing to quantify, even for those who have attained plenty of it. College of Idaho alumni Dr. Brian Attebery ’74 and Dr. Jennifer Eastman Attebery ’73 are great examples of this phenomenon. While both Brian and Jennifer are English experts, defining personal success proved a difficult task for the two longtime Idaho State University professors. “There are times when the world is your oyster and you are just so pleased with yourself—that’s just such a wonderful feeling,” Jennifer said after thoughtful consideration. “What I have found is that it lasts for about a day, and then there are more sustained sorts of personal gratification from just being happy in your daily life.” Her husband has a similar view. “Success is different things to me in different contexts,” Brian said. “Sometimes it’s a matter of getting through a day without any major disasters. Other times it’s finding myself quoted in an article or dissertation, even when—or maybe especially when—the author disagrees with this guy Attebery on some point or other.” By any definition, both Atteberys have found success during their 30-plus year careers in academia. Brian—the son of longtime C of I English professor Dr. Louie Attebery ’50—is an award-winning author who also is widely recognized as a leading critic in the fantasy and myth genre. ISU Magazine lauds Attebery as “ISU’s Fantastical Sci-Fi Guru” and he recently finished his sixth book, Stories about Stories, Fantasy & the Remaking of Myth. “I feel successful as a writer when someone notices sentences I work at, or even my jokes,” Brian said. Jennifer, meanwhile, is in the midst of a threeyear appointment as chair of the ISU English and Philosophy Department. She also was awarded a 2011 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies, which allowed both Atteberys to give lectures and attend conferences throughout Europe. Now, the lifelong educators are back in the classroom, where success takes on a whole new meaning. “Teaching success is when one of my students ventures off into new intellectual territory,” Brian said. “Especially when it’s territory I don’t know
Dustin Wunderlich
well myself.”
is assistant editor of Quest.
Larry Gardner is a 1963 C of I graduate.
quest • page 20