The right mentor can totally change the college and career trajectory of a student. Today, we're exploring the power of mentorships through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
Join former NASA astronaut Joe Tanner and current Astronaut Scholar Curtis Althaus as they dive into the powerful, and often overlooked, role mentorship plays in building tomorrow’s innovators.
Through their personal stories, you’ll hear how mentorship goes beyond simply offering advice. It’s about offering guidance in those pivotal moments—helping mentees navigate tough decisions, inspiring them to chase big dreams, and providing the type of insight that only years of experience can offer. Whether it’s choosing between two internships or deciding which research path to pursue, mentorship gives students the clarity and confidence they need to thrive.
The conversation also sheds light on why the mentorship experience is a two-way street. For Joe, it’s not just about imparting wisdom; it’s about building meaningful relationships that continue to shape both mentors and mentees long after the formal program ends. And for Curtis, being part of ASF isn’t just about the scholarship—it’s about becoming part of a dynamic community that challenges him to push boundaries and think bigger.
Listen to learn:
- Why mentorship in STEM isn’t just about academic guidance
- The unexpected ways mentorship creates clarity, confidence, and lifelong connections for both mentors and mentees
- How ASF’s mentorship program builds a community where learning, collaboration, and innovation go hand in hand
- What it means to be a part of a “family” of scholars who not only receive support but give it back as they grow
- The actionable insights Joe and Curtis share about navigating career decisions, embracing failure, and seizing unexpected opportunities
3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:
- Mentorship in STEM goes far beyond academics. Joe and Curtis share how their mentor/mentee relationship is far less about Joe advising Curtis on his academic journey, and far more about sharing a lifetime of wisdom to help Curtis with all aspects of life. It's a great reminder that you don't need to be an expert in the same field as a student to become their mentor.
- Programs like ASF offer a lifelong community which can have long-reaching impact for students. Curtis shares how his ASF experience has evolved from academic support to a true "family" environment, where the community of scholars connects, learns from each other, and shares the same passions and big ideas. Getting involved in a community of peers - those with similar ideals and those with differing viewpoints - can have a huge impact on a student's life.
- Brilliant people can come from anywhere. Credit to Curtis for this brilliant observation, but through his time at ASF he's met bright individuals from every background imaginable. Being open to new people and new experiences can create a much more wholistic life experience for young students.
Resources in this Episode:
Learn more about the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, visit: www.astronautscholarship.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matt Kirchner (00:00):
Matt, welcome into The TechEd Podcast. It is
(00:11):
Matt Kirchner, your host. Wherewould we be without mentors?
I've had so many people in mylife, whether it's in my
personal life, in myprofessional life, really, over
the course of my entire life,that showed me how to do things
I didn't know I was capable ofdoing. Maybe even had the guts
to tell me when I was doing itall wrong. Having people in your
(00:32):
life that are able to do thatfor you so very important. It's
so very important now, as I getdeeper into my career, to try to
do the same thing for peoplethat are on the pathway that I
was on years ago, mentorship isso very important. We're going
to talk a ton about mentorshipin this episode of The TechEd
Podcast. And what's more, we aredoing it with people that have
(00:52):
worked in and around, believe itor not, NASA, so we've got a
former astronaut and theindividual that he is mentoring
along with us for this episodeof The TechEd Podcast. So let me
first begin just by welcoming inthese two phenomenal guests. The
first one, his name is JoeTanner, and Joe is a former
astronaut and a mentor for theastronaut Scholarship
(01:14):
Foundation, commonly called ASF.
And he is joined by CurtisAlthaus, who is an astronaut
scholar and a University ofIllinois student. We're going to
have a wonderful conversation. Ijust am so fascinated by the
relationship that the two of youhave, that the work that the ASF
is doing, this importance ofmentorship. So let's get into
that, Joe, I want to start withyou. ASF has just a really,
(01:35):
really interesting story. You'rea former NASA astronaut. Tell us
about ASF and tell us what yourmission is all about.
Joe Tanner (01:44):
Certainly, ASF was founded in 1984 by the original
seven astronauts, and they werelong past their flight period in
the 60s and early 70s, but theydecided that they needed to
start something in a foundationto help promote what we call now
STEM education, science,technology, engineering and
(02:05):
math, and so they establishedthe foundation to provide
scholarships for promisingstudents at the university
level. Those eligible, theyapply either in their sophomore
year or their junior year foreither one or two years of
scholarship. Curtis is one ofthe few that actually were sharp
(02:25):
enough. That's how sharp hereally is. Was selected as a
junior, and we became mentor andmentee in his junior year, and
carried that into his senioryear, which he should finish at
the end of the semester.
Awesome. Well, the scholarshipwas expanded as the years went
on, not only with membershipfrom the original seven
astronauts, but anyone who'sbeen in the astronaut program
(02:47):
for all the programs, fromMercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo,
Soyuz, then shuttle and now ISS,can be a part of the
organization and participatingin the mission of promoting STEM
education and helping the bestand the brightest to quote a
movie line, the best of the bestof the best in STEM education.
So starts
Matt Kirchner (03:08):
with seven astronauts. Do you know how many
an hour involved in this day andage? Of
Joe Tanner (03:12):
course, all the original seven have passed away,
and there are a number ofastronauts that participate in
ASF in various capacities, someas mentors like me, and some on
the selection committee, andothers in the leadership roles
and participate in the galas andthe innovation conference gala
and week that we're going totalk about here in a little bit
Matt Kirchner (03:35):
absolutely fascinating. Joe, so tell us a
little bit about the impact thatASF has had on the students
since this founding all the wayback in 1984 in
Joe Tanner (03:44):
total, over the years of the foundation, we have
given out 855 scholars,scholarships to scholars
totaling over $9 million it'snot trivial. The one word that
probably sticks out from thescholars themselves, who took a
survey last year, and the oneword is confidence that they got
(04:05):
from the ASF program. There'svalidation, I guess you would
say, of the fact that they areworking hard in school and
they're doing well, and heresomebody has recognized that
fact and made them astronautscholars. The other words that I
have from this survey actuallycome from the innovators
conference, and this is whereI'd like Curtis to tell us a
(04:26):
little bit about the innovatorsconference.
Matt Kirchner (04:28):
You've got confidence in there. We've got
validation. Tell us a little bitmore, Curtis, about the impact
that you think that the ASFprogram has had.
Curtis Althaus (04:36):
It's really hard to quantify, like Joe said,
because so much of the benefitis incremental. It's not like
you get the scholarship and thenimmediately your life changes.
There's the mentorship aspect,there's the networking aspect,
there's the family aspect of thescholarship, and all three of
those things, all of the thingsthat you get can make little
(04:57):
impacts on your career. But Joemeant. Innovators. And this is
an event that happens. Allastronaut scholars are invited
to it. It's a week long, gettogether, retreat, conference,
all of those things packed intoone. So
Matt Kirchner (05:13):
tell me you mentioned the word family. The
other things you talked aboutthe impacts, I suppose you might
expect, but you said the familyimpact as well. Go a little
deeper on that.
Curtis Althaus (05:21):
When I first got the astronaut scholarship in
2023 I was pretty nervous,because you see the list of
other scholars, and they'recoming from all around the
United States. They're from alldifferent areas in STEM and
really you don't know what toexpect. But pretty quickly, even
in the first few hours, sittingin a room with my class of
(05:41):
scholars, you realize prettyquickly that everybody is
welcoming and like minded in thesense that everybody cares about
the world, they care about eachother, they care about making a
difference, and they're allUsing their experiences to drive
some particular point ofinnovation, and so being a part
(06:04):
of that family, being a part ofa group like that, it has a
resonant impact on me as ascholar. It helps me pursue
those same things and makedifferences in my own area of
research and my area of study.
But also it's a group of peoplethat everyone cares and that is
a fantastic group to be a partof for that exact reason,
Matt Kirchner (06:26):
no question. So you're like minded. Everyone
cares, and I'm guessing, and Joealready kind of alluded to this.
Everyone's really, really smarttoo, right? So Curtis, you
probably maybe you're too modestto admit that, but I gotta
believe you're a really, reallysharp, smart individual as well
to be selected for this program,but certainly smarts and
intelligence that you knowthat's important, what do you
(06:48):
think they saw in youspecifically that that led you
to this amazing opportunity? One
Curtis Althaus (06:53):
of the things that I think really well
describes astronaut scholars isthey're multi dimensional.
They're not just good at school.
They also do very interestingthings outside of school. And in
my case, I'm a dancer. I doLatin dance, I perform, teach
travel, you name it. I do that.
(07:13):
In addition to a lot of randomthings that I do. My game of two
truths and a lie is verydifficult. I'll just say that,
yeah, for sure. Well,
Matt Kirchner (07:21):
and I would tell you, I think we've had a lot of
firsts on The TechEd Podcast inour 200 plus episodes. You I
think, are the first Latindancer that we've had on the
podcast, or at least the onethat's brought up the topic, how
did you get into that?
Curtis Althaus (07:32):
I should preface by saying, before college, I
never danced in my life. I mean,sometimes dance floor at a high
school dance, sometimes you'llsee me breaking a move, but some
Matt Kirchner (07:43):
will say that I've never danced in my life
either, although I've tried manytimes, right?
Curtis Althaus (07:48):
Yeah. So we have an event at the U of I called
Quad Day, and this is the LasVegas strip of U of I registered
student organizations. Everybodyhas their posters up and candy,
and they're trying to get you tosign up for their club. And it
just so happened that myfreshman year, I was at Quad
Day, and I walked past thisbooth of these dancers and these
(08:11):
black outfits with these redflowers, and I just thought it
was the coolest thing, coolestoutfit. It'd be cool to dance in
something like that, but it's along shot, right? So I go to the
audition. I think I flood theaudition, but long story short,
I somehow make it onto the team,and then a year later, I was
elected the artistic director ofthe team. I'd done music for
(08:32):
most of my life, but I then wenton to teach and travel and dance
all across the United Statesafter that fascinating
Matt Kirchner (08:40):
story and a real good lesson, I think, especially
to our students that maybe getpretty caught up in academics,
and it's easy to do that, thatit really is, in a lot of cases,
that well rounded student andthat person that has a great
academic story, but also has agreat story outside of academia
and their coursework that reallyattracts whether it's an
employer or, in this case, TheASF, to that particular
(09:01):
individual, and then mentorsthem along this incredible
journey. So here we've gotCurtis, who was both a 2023 and
2024 astronaut scholar, goingback before that, all the way
back to 2016 Joe, the formalmentorship program launched as
part of ASF, and you've been amentor ever since that very
first year, so So nine yearssince that launch. So tell us
(09:22):
about your experience as anastronaut, and specifically how
and as a pilot, for that matter,how those experiences shaped
your approach to how you mentorsomeone like Curtis.
Joe Tanner (09:32):
The decision I made to go into the Navy and become a
Navy pilot enabled me to get ajob with NASA, also as a pilot
for eight years before I finallygot selected in the astronaut
office, I would not have beenselected if I hadn't done both
those two things. I'm sure ofit. And so those two experiences
critically formed my ability tohelp someone like Curtis, who
(09:53):
would like to follow a similarpath he's pursuing more of the
academic qualifications becomean astronaut. He's going to get
a PA. HD and maybe work in theindustry a little bit, and I
trust that he and I will stillbe communicating at that at that
time, the mentorship period isfor one year, but I find it so
rewarding and so much fun reallygetting to know these incredible
(10:15):
scholars and developing arelationship with them that I
keep in contact with probablyhalf of the nine mentees that
I've had over the years, and
Matt Kirchner (10:23):
that was gonna be my question. So you build these
relationships, then a lot ofthese folks you end up staying
in touch with over time, that'sit's gotta be interesting. Is
there one in particular that youwould look to that's really
accomplished, some things thatmight be notable or done, some
interesting things that might benotable the audience? Yeah,
Joe Tanner (10:37):
well, most of them are still in their PhD paths
right now. And for instance, Ithink it was three scholars ago
that, and she's going toVanderbilt medical school. And
my wife and I were passingthrough Nashville, and so we
just stopped by and had lunchwith her. It's a beautiful
campus too, by the way, I'vebeen there. We were off campus,
went to Chick fil A as myeffect. But okay, and the big
(11:00):
football game between Texas,Andy was going on that
afternoon, so she had to leaveand go to the game, but she's
doing great having a good time,and I'm going to keep track of
you, so don't change yourtelephone number. There
Matt Kirchner (11:12):
you go. That's got to be so rewarding as a
mentor to look back severalyears later and yeah, see them
on that path. So certainlycredit to you for staying in
touch with those people and andalso for just being engaged as
you are as a mentor. It'sreally, really important, as I
mentioned in the intro, to havepeople that we can look up to.
Curtis, clearly, Joe is somebodythat you look up to with a
tremendous amount of gratitudeand admiration. You know, as
(11:34):
you're continuing along thispath in your academic journey, I
guess Joe had mentioned thatyou're pursuing the PhD route
right now. You're studyingchemistry and astrophysics at
the University of Illinois, sowork in you know, both the
aspirations toward the the PhDwork, but also talk about what
first drew you to theseparticular fields, and how being
part of ASF has influenced thatparticular path in your goals as
(11:56):
a student, individual inacademia. Yeah,
Curtis Althaus (11:59):
so I'm a chemistry and astrophysics
double major, and I started offas a chemistry major, and I was
a Lego kid growing up, so Iplayed with Legos from dawn till
dusk. And in many ways,chemistry is similar to Legos,
in that you're assembling atomsto build molecules that do all
sorts of amazing things. But Ihad a really great high school
(12:20):
chemistry teacher who gave methe freedom to do some
experimentation in high school,which eventually led me to
joining an electrochemistry labwhere I continue to work today,
working on energy storageresearch. The astrophysics part
was just an interest of mine. Ireally like space. It's another
thing that Joe and I share. Itwas a love for space, but this
(12:42):
space is the place where you seethe coolest physics, black
holes, supernovas, novas, and Ijust wanted to learn more about
that, so, just
Matt Kirchner (12:51):
so I understand this correctly. So you're like,
going through organic chemistry,and you're like, I think in my
spare time, I'll just pursue adegree in astrophysics. Is that
kind of how this came about.
Yeah,
Curtis Althaus (13:01):
that's about it.
All the different areas are notas distinctive as you might
think. They all use a lot of thesame principles, but I've always
loved learning new things, andthis kind of feeds my passion
for that absolutely.
Matt Kirchner (13:15):
So connect that to ASF and kind of what you're
learning in the current workyou're doing, and how that's
influencing your coursework andyour experience as you go
through the university. Yeah, asJoe mentioned
Curtis Althaus (13:25):
in the future, if I was given the opportunity
to fly to Mars or fly to themoon, I would take it in a
heartbeat. But I think so muchof mentorship goes past just by
professional aspirations, everystudent, every person who's
faced a transition in their lifehas to make some big decisions,
whether it be choosing betweenan internship or choosing
(13:48):
between grad schools orundergrad and those sorts of
things are the exact things thatmentors are set up to help me
with, and Joe has been veryinstrumental in my decision
making, both for grad school andfor, like I said, internships.
We've got a great story aboutthat, but I won't steal his
thunder. Well, if we don't getto that story, we're gonna come
(14:11):
back to it, but keep rolling.
Yeah, it just mentorship. Goesbeyond my chemistry and my
astrophysics degree and theenergy storage research I do in
the future. It's just so muchbigger than that. And that's, I
think, what the value well, bothbecause Joe is an astronaut and
I would like to be an astronautone day, but also just Joe has
lived a lot more life than Ihave, and there are a lot of
(14:33):
lessons that he has learned thatI am learning now. And that's, I
think where I get a lot, how
Matt Kirchner (14:42):
incredibly gratifying Joe, it must be to
hear someone talk about yourmentorship and the influence
that you're having on them inreal time, in the way that
Curtis has, and clearly you'vebuilt up a tremendous
relationship together. And Iknow that it's a lot of
commitment both sides, andbuilding that trust and getting
to a place where you're clearlyhaving. A huge, huge influence.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat mentorship. Joe, now you've
(15:03):
been doing this a while. Wesuggested 2016 is when you
started with the ASF program.
But no doubt you've beenmentoring folks for a long, long
time. So what motivates you tokeep doing this? You know, is it
the kind of things we just heardfrom Curtis? Are there other
things that motivate you? Andhow should other individuals who
are maybe thinking about takingon a more formal mentorship
role. Be thinking about that,and what advice would you have
for
Joe Tanner (15:25):
them? Well, like Curtis mentioned, it's really
about relationship, and ASF ingeneral, is about family. They
they talk about family all thetime, and we are one big family,
and I'm just happy to be a partof it, and I'm going to keep
doing the mentoring, because Ireally enjoy it. I mean, who
wouldn't want to get to know aperson like Curtis? And we've
actually met in person threetimes, some of my other mentees.
(15:47):
It was all on Zoom or meetingsor something like that, but
we've been together. He's he'svisited my house here with his
father and spent the night andbeen to my house in Danville. I
was University of Illinois grad,also from Danville, and he came
over and we tromped around inthe woods, and he mentioned,
I've lived more years than him.
I think this was menace, acompliment. We were going up and
down the hills in the woods. Andhe says, you know, you're doing
(16:09):
pretty good for an old guy.
Unknown (16:14):
Absolutely, that's terrific.
Joe Tanner (16:16):
The key about mentoring and Curtis alluded to
it is that I don't need to be anexpert in astrophysics or
chemistry. I know a little bitabout both, but not enough to
advise a person who's eventuallygoing to be a PhD candidate. But
the real key is to care, to careabout what they're doing, and to
listen, and more than you talk,ask questions, don't make
(16:36):
decisions for the mentee,although I think he wanted me to
tell that one story about thecoin. He was having a tough time
figuring out what to do forsummer or something. I can't
remember what the topic was now.
Curtis, what was it? Yeah, it
Curtis Althaus (16:49):
was choosing between two internships, a NASA
internship and a LawrenceLivermore internship. That's
Joe Tanner (16:55):
right, he had a NASA internship and a Livermore and I
said, Well, flip a coin. And hesaw, no, we're not gonna flip a
coin. That's so no, no, no, no.
Flip the coin, and if you don'tlike the way it turned out and
you want to flip it again,that's
Unknown (17:08):
your answer. There you go. That's awesome. I love that
you don't
Joe Tanner (17:12):
need to have a PhD in astrophysics to help them
make that decision. It's justabout caring and relationship
and frankly, just being a friendand Curtis and I for our good
friends, yeah, that's
Matt Kirchner (17:25):
clear. You can tell, you can tell that mutual
admiration just in spending thisshort period of time we've had
together. And I, you know, Ireally love the fact that you
talk about Joe. I think a lot oftimes when people think about
being a mentor, it's likeimparting all this great, grand
wisdom to another individual andand so much of whether it's
leadership, mentorship, evenselling, if you will, or sharing
(17:46):
ideas with other people andtrying to bring them over to
your side. When we start withcaring and we start with
listening, it's amazing how muchfurther along we get. And so
that advice, I think, foranybody who's going to be a
mentor, it's not aboutnecessarily what you know. It's
about how you can help. And youdon't know how you can help
until you listen and kind ofreally understand where somebody
is, and it's clear that that'sthe approach that the two of you
(18:08):
have had to this relationship.
Curtis, it's got to be sorewarding to hear Joe talk about
you in those in those kindterms, but also just to think
back on the idea of lifedecisions, flipping a coin, what
could have been, or what mighthave been you making this
decision to pursue ASF andultimately being able to
participate. Was there a momentalong the way, since you started
this journey, this ASF journey,that you would point to, that
(18:31):
you're like, wow, this reallycodifies everything, all the
great things about what it meansto me to be part of ASF and this
experience that you're going
Curtis Althaus (18:41):
through, yeah, I think there are two points. The
first was the first innovatorsgala that I went to, just being
able to meet all of thedifferent ASF scholars and all
of the different ASF affiliates,and really realizing how much of
a family, and I think a familyis the best descriptor of what
ASF is, how much of a family ASFactually was, and to feel a part
(19:04):
of that family was a really,really unique and amazing
experience. The other one wasgoing to visit Joe out in
Danville, Illinois. This was oneof the first times we met, the
first time we met in person. Butjust who else can say they did
yard chores with an astronaut ora former astronaut? Right? Yeah,
(19:25):
that's awesome for me. Like, I'mgrateful to have Joe as a
mentor, and you know, heinspires me to be a mentor to
people below me, and tohopefully be an ASF mentor one
day. But I think those twopoints best describe that.
Matt Kirchner (19:40):
That's fantastic.
So the this whole idea offamily, we've talked about that
a bit, and you've talked aboutall the support and the non
competitive atmosphere, and morejust the the caring that you're
receiving from other peopleparticipating on this journey.
And I can honestly say I'venever done chores with an
astronaut, so I don't know whocan say that, but I can say that
that I haven't so to have that,that experience together. Are
really, really important and andyou talk about this family, and
(20:02):
this isn't just a family, Joe,right? That is like a two year
experience. And then we're offto the next thing. One of the
really interesting aspects ofASF is that once you're a
scholar, you're a lifelongmember of this organization. So
let's start with you, Joe, andjust talk about what happens
after this education process.
You touched a little bit, Joe onstaying in touch with some of
(20:23):
the folks you've mentored in thepast. How do you see this moving
forward with Curtis? Kind ofpost education or post, you
know, undergraduate degree timeand so on.
Joe Tanner (20:32):
It's up to Curtis or what he wants to do. There is no
requirement, there's no paybackon the on the scholarship. But
most scholars want to be a partof ASF in some way that they are
able. And like Curtis said that,I think you'd be a great mentor,
and when it's time. And I'msure, first of all, he is very
popular with the staff at ASF.
They love Curtis, so when he hashad enough experience and he's
(20:57):
got time to do it, I'm sure thathe will be welcomed with open
arms as a mentor anything elsehe wants to do when the scholars
come back to ASF, I think itadds strength to the whole
program. It's just good foreverybody and good for the
scholars. Gives them anotherpurpose other than their
research or business or family,whatever they do on something,
it's just a great opportunityfor them, and, of course, for
(21:20):
the farmers and the staff thatare working so hard anyway,
absolutely, our reward comesdaily. Almost
Matt Kirchner (21:28):
no question. So what is it that the staff loves
so much about you? Curtis, whatare you doing right in that
regard? And then talk a littlebit about how you see, you know,
you talked about wanting to be amentor at some point, but how do
you see this relationship withASF evolving as your career
heads forward? Yeah, I don't
Curtis Althaus (21:42):
know. We've talked about if they need dance
lessons at the next ASF event oncall for that you're the guy,
huh? Awesome. But I don't know,my journey in ASF has already
started to move past just theformal events that they set up.
I went on a trip with a few ofmy ASF classmates to New Orleans
(22:03):
a few months ago. We're planninga backpacking trip in Montana.
I've made a point to meet ASFscholars at most of the places I
travel to, and just right offthe bat, from when you meet
somebody you haven't seen in twoyears, you just hit it off, and
immediately it is really afamily. That's the best way I
can describe it. But I don'tknow, I have received so much
(22:24):
from ASF, and it only feelsright for me to give back in the
future and to give to the nextgeneration of scholars and
continue feeding this familythat we've developed, feeding
this
Matt Kirchner (22:36):
family and giving back Joe. I've got, I've got to
believe, in fact, I already knowthat that's incredibly important
to you. We've got individualsfrom not just astronauts, but
also professionals Joe that comefrom all kinds of STEM fields
that get involved with the ASFas mentors. So what would you
say to professionals in otherSTEM fields that might be
considering becoming a mentor?
What advice would you have hadfor them if they're unsure about
(22:58):
how they can contribute to aprogram like ASF, or what do
mentors bring beyond just thatacademic support if
Joe Tanner (23:07):
you have a passion for helping other people, I
think mentoring is one of themost noblest methods to help
another human being along thepath that maybe you've already
traveled. But even if youhaven't followed that exact
path, you have, like Curtis saidearlier, you gain wisdom and
life, and you can pass that onto someone who's at a stage that
(23:27):
you remember being at thatstage. And there's lots of
times, and I wish I had a goodmentor in my life, of course, my
parents and everything. Butsometimes it's great to get an
independent view, and you don'tnecessarily need to be an expert
in the field of the person youare mentoring, you have the life
experiences, and those are ofvalue,
Matt Kirchner (23:46):
absolutely. So those life experiences, those
valuable experiences that youbring to mentees like Curtis and
Curtis, I know ASF has helpedbuild a strong community, right?
We've talked about that, we'vetalked about the family, we've
talked about all the people thathave been scholars, have been on
on this journey, and it's anopportunity for them to network.
It's certainly an opportunityfor them to continue their
learning. And we've talked aboutthe one on one mentorship, the
(24:08):
time you spent with Joe, eitherbeing mentored by him, learning
from his wisdom, spending timein his home, doing chores with
him in Danville and so on. Youknow, in addition to all that
mentoring and some of theseother experiences that you had
through ASF. Is there anythingelse that you would point to
where you're like, Wow, this isa really, really good reason to
be part of ASF. I want
Curtis Althaus (24:28):
to answer that by expanding the definition of
mentorship to not just a formalmentorship relationship that Joe
and I have, but just the sharingof experiences and sharing of
ideas and life lessons, and thatis something that happens at
every single ASF event. Everysingle person I've ever met has
shared with me something thatI've never known before, whether
(24:51):
it be research related, whetherit be life related. I've met
generals. I've met currentastronauts. I've met people
who've worked in Antarctica.
Jessica, I've met researcherswho work on cancer detection,
students from other schools whodo even more interesting stuff
than I could ever come up within my wildest dreams. So the
formal mentorship relationshipis a focal point of one of the
(25:13):
things I've received. But evenmore than that, just the
relationships that I've had theopportunity to build with
different people has been morefruitful than I ever could have
imagined. And that's what Ithink makes me want to come back
for more every time.
Matt Kirchner (25:29):
And it sounds like, I mean, you talk about
people, you know, doingincredible research, you know,
working on solutions for cancer,people that are, you know,
working in Antarctica. I mean,is that kind of your I don't
want to say typical. But I mean,when you get together with these
folks, Curtis, is it peopledoing really kind of, you know,
beyond the average types of workand engaging in beyond the
(25:50):
average types of experiences, isthat kind of the fabric of the
community when you're together?
Curtis Althaus (25:55):
Absolutely, I think the thing that brings
people into the fold of ASF, theASF scholars, I should say, is
research. Almost all of them doreally, really interesting
research. And I should add,sometimes the research comes
along with being, say, a singer,a musician or a champion power
lifter or an ultra marathonrunner. Oftentimes it is
(26:18):
multiple things that thesepeople excel at and so, yeah, I
would definitely characterizeour community, at least the
scholar community, as beingpeople who just care about the
world and who are doing amazingthings to change it. You know,
Matt Kirchner (26:33):
we had a guest on the podcast not too long ago in
the form of John Murphy, I thinkhe was just last week. And John
is Senior Vice President withthe US Chamber of Commerce, and
talked about, you know, when wetalk at the end of this podcast
about advice that people wouldoffer to others, and we'll get
to that with the two of you in afew moments as well. One of the
things that John talked aboutwas just seeking out people who
(26:55):
are different from you andseeking out people who are he's,
he used the term weird, but he'skind of says, you know, find
weird people, right? And thatand not as a pejorative at all,
but just people that areeccentric, people that are doing
really fascinating things. Andit sounds like that's the kind
of community in a lot of waysthat you found with ASF, which
makes it super, superfascinating. Joe, I want to
talk. We've got a couplequestions left here for both you
and for Curtis, the questions welove posing to our guests here
(27:19):
on the podcast. And as much aswe have a lot of educators that
listen to this podcast, we havea lot of students, in fact, that
listen to this podcast, wealways like to ask a couple
questions about education.
Everybody had their owneducation journey. You no doubt
had your own unique journey. Soas you look back on education or
think about education today, isthere an opinion or a belief
that you have about educationthat might be a little bit
(27:40):
different than everybody else's.
Joe Tanner (27:43):
So I was a degreed mechanical engineer. I went from
that degree, took a four monthtrip to Europe, and then I
joined the Navy. Was in the Navyfor six years, and I was kind of
a ski bum, or didn't use myengineering degree for four
years. Then I came to NASA as apilot for eight years, and then
that 16 years as an astronaut,and then I finally used my
(28:03):
engineering degree while I wentto the University of Colorado as
an instructor, a teachingprofessor. But every day of my
life I have used what I learnedin engineering basically a way
to think and the way to solveproblems. And that's basically
what the real value of myengineering degree was, is it
taught me how to think and howto solve.
Matt Kirchner (28:24):
I love that taught you how to think. I mean,
you think about anybody'sjourney, you know, it's
secondary education, butespecially post secondary
education, learning how tothink, learning how to solve
problems. Super, superimportant. And there's no doubt
that somebody in a STEM field,somebody with an engineering
degree, that's what you'redoing, right? We're solving
problems, and so being able touse that day in and day out,
you're also probably the firstperson I've ever met, and I'm
(28:47):
almost for sure, who graduatedfrom ski bum to Navy pilot.
That's impressive as well. Soawesome that you're able to sort
that one out.
Joe Tanner (28:55):
Actually, I did the Navy pilot first, and then I was
a ski bum. Got it. Okay? Thenyou went to NASA. I tried to get
a job at Copper Mountain skiresort, and I figured, since I
was a heavy equipment operator,ie flying a multi ton airplanes
off an aircraft carrier, that Ishould probably be qualified to
drive a snow cat and grim themslopes. They didn't agree,
(29:15):
really. They didn't agree atall.
Matt Kirchner (29:17):
Yeah, as our producer, Melissa, knows I'm a
skier, I spend a good probablyfive or six weeks every the
first quarter of every year on amountain, skiing, or at least
skiing part of the day. So Ihave great admiration, by the
way, for what it's worth for forsnow cat drivers. And that's no
that's no easy task. But yeah,you would think, if you can fly
a plane, you should be able tofigure out how to how to operate
a snow cat. But that's that'snot my job. Just to sort out.
(29:39):
Curtis, same question for you.
You're a little bit earlier, alittle bit newer in your
education, career and path thanmaybe Joe and I are, but what
you know as you're kind ofmoving through it, what's a
attitude or a belief or aparadigm that you have about
education that might surprisesome folks?
Curtis Althaus (29:54):
My answer to this question also stems from my
experience. There are a lot ofthings stem from my experience.
It is. Stuff, but we havescholars from all over the
United States, from schools,from HBCUs, from colleges,
covering blanketing the country.
And in meeting the scholars fromall these places, it's made me
realize one thing, and that onething is that brilliant people
(30:16):
can come from anywhere. Ireally, truly believe that
brilliant people can come fromall walks of life and from all
schools. And I'm always verycareful to judge until I meet
people after having met so manypeople from so many different
places, that's
Matt Kirchner (30:35):
awesome. Speaking of great messages, Curtis and
we'll talk to you first and thenask this final question of Joe
as well. A lot of the guests wehave on the podcast, we asked
them to go way, way, way back intime to when they were a 15 year
old sophomore in high school. Inyour case, maybe you don't have
to turn the clock back quite asfar as some of us. But if you
could go back to that point intime in your life, what advice
(30:55):
would you give yourself as a 15year old,
Curtis Althaus (30:58):
going back to my 15 year old self, I could not
guess the path that I took toget to where I am today. I could
probably guess roughly where Iwould be going, what direction I
would be going, butrealistically, like where I am
today was a culmination ofrandom chance and weird
experiences that were eitherpositively or negatively
(31:19):
impacting my trajectory. And Ithink if I had to give advice to
my 15 year old self, it wouldbe, do everything that you can
to prepare you for what you wantto do in the future. But don't
dissuade yourself from doingthat one weird thing that other
people tell you, like, Oh, don'tdo Latin dancing. Don't learn
how to play the cooling guysdon't don't do those things. No,
(31:41):
I think all of those thingscontributed to who I am today,
and I'm not afraid to veer offinto wild directions. Now,
that's perfect,
Matt Kirchner (31:50):
yeah, so, you know, stay the course, and know
what course you're on, and workhard at it, but don't be afraid
to go off on a couple oftangents. And that's really that
creativity and that serendipitycertainly is what, what life is
all about in so many ways, sogreat, great advice for a 15
year old. Joe Tanner, samequestion to you. Maybe you got
to turn the clock back a coupleyears earlier than than Curtis
(32:11):
had to to when you were at 15year old sophomore in high
school. This whole career, Navypilot, NASA pilot, astronaut,
ski bum, all of that in front ofyou, but you maybe don't know
exactly how that is going towork itself out. You go back to
that 15 year old Joe Tanner.
What advice do you give him?
Joe Tanner (32:28):
Well, first of all, man, I don't want to go back to
the 15 year old version of me.
That was hard enough the firsttime. No, I would say to myself,
whatever you do, do it with yourwhole heart and your whole
effort. No halfways, noshortcuts, no laziness. I didn't
learn that lesson until I gotinto the Navy, and they helped
teach me that there's one goodthing about the military. But I
(32:53):
realized then that if I wantsomething bad enough I wanted to
fly jet airplanes off carriers,I wanted that bad enough that
you better go all in oneverything that you do. The
other thing I would want to sayis I got permission to share a
quote from a high schoolstudent, as a high school
graduating senior at an awardsbank in Florida that I was the
(33:13):
keynote for, and afterwards, Iasked him he was the primary
winner of a national award. Imean, this is top shelf kind of
guys, but I asked him, Patrick,what do you really want to do in
life? And he looked right at me,and he says, You know, I don't
know, but I'm doing everything Ican to prepare myself to do it.
And I told him I thought thatwas most brilliant answer I'd
(33:34):
ever heard, yeah, from a highschool student, too. Can I use
it? And he said, Absolutely, soI did. I love that. Yeah,
Matt Kirchner (33:42):
that's really, really good advice. All that
certainly giving everything,giving something, everything
you've got. There are noshortcuts, there's no halfway
points. There's certainly nolaziness along that route. Give
it everything you have, whateveryou're up to, and then you know,
not knowing for sure what thefuture is going to be, but
preparing yourself for thatfuture. Great advice from a high
school student himself to JoeTanner, and advice that he would
(34:05):
give himself as a 15 year old.
Very proposed answer to that. SoI'm so glad that, first of all,
the two of you are giving that100% going all in on this
relationship, this mentor,mentee relationship, working so
hard at crafting Curtis future,and in the process creating this
incredibly rewarding opportunityfor Joe, you've created an
(34:25):
incredibly rewarding opportunityfor me to learn all about the
astronaut scholarship foundationhere on this episode of The
TechEd Podcast. And just can'tthank you, Joe, both to you. Joe
Tanner, the former astronaut andASF mentor and Curtis ALD house,
astronaut, scholar andUniversity of Illinois student.
To both of you, thank you somuch for being with us. Thank
(34:46):
you. Thank you, man, what agreat conversation we had with
both Joe and Curtis today on TheTechEd Podcast, we talked about
the show notes, and you willfind those at TechEd
podcast.com/a A S, F, TechEdpodcast.com/asf. Check out those
show notes. Check us out onsocial media. We're on LinkedIn.
We are on Instagram. We are onTick, tock, anywhere you go for
(35:10):
your social media, Facebook aswell. You will find The TechEd
Podcast when you do reach outand say hello and don't forget
to join us again next week onThe TechEd Podcast. Until then,
my name is Matt Kirchner, thanksfor being with us. You.
Matt, welcome into The TechEd Podcast. It is
(00:11):
Matt Kirchner, your host. Wherewould we be without mentors?
I've had so many people in mylife, whether it's in my
personal life, in myprofessional life, really, over
the course of my entire life,that showed me how to do things
I didn't know I was capable ofdoing. Maybe even had the guts
to tell me when I was doing itall wrong. Having people in your
(00:32):
life that are able to do thatfor you so very important. It's
so very important now, as I getdeeper into my career, to try to
do the same thing for peoplethat are on the pathway that I
was on years ago, mentorship isso very important. We're going
to talk a ton about mentorshipin this episode of The TechEd
Podcast. And what's more, we aredoing it with people that have
(00:52):
worked in and around, believe itor not, NASA, so we've got a
former astronaut and theindividual that he is mentoring
along with us for this episodeof The TechEd Podcast. So let me
first begin just by welcoming inthese two phenomenal guests. The
first one, his name is JoeTanner, and Joe is a former
astronaut and a mentor for theastronaut Scholarship
(01:14):
Foundation, commonly called ASF.
And he is joined by CurtisAlthaus, who is an astronaut
scholar and a University ofIllinois student. We're going to
have a wonderful conversation. Ijust am so fascinated by the
relationship that the two of youhave, that the work that the ASF
is doing, this importance ofmentorship. So let's get into
that, Joe, I want to start withyou. ASF has just a really,
(01:35):
really interesting story. You'rea former NASA astronaut. Tell us
about ASF and tell us what yourmission is all about.
Joe Tanner (01:44):
Certainly, ASF was founded in 1984 by the original
seven astronauts, and they werelong past their flight period in
the 60s and early 70s, but theydecided that they needed to
start something in a foundationto help promote what we call now
STEM education, science,technology, engineering and
(02:05):
math, and so they establishedthe foundation to provide
scholarships for promisingstudents at the university
level. Those eligible, theyapply either in their sophomore
year or their junior year foreither one or two years of
scholarship. Curtis is one ofthe few that actually were sharp
(02:25):
enough. That's how sharp hereally is. Was selected as a
junior, and we became mentor andmentee in his junior year, and
carried that into his senioryear, which he should finish at
the end of the semester.
Awesome. Well, the scholarshipwas expanded as the years went
on, not only with membershipfrom the original seven
astronauts, but anyone who'sbeen in the astronaut program
(02:47):
for all the programs, fromMercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo,
Soyuz, then shuttle and now ISS,can be a part of the
organization and participatingin the mission of promoting STEM
education and helping the bestand the brightest to quote a
movie line, the best of the bestof the best in STEM education.
So starts
Matt Kirchner (03:08):
with seven astronauts. Do you know how many
an hour involved in this day andage? Of
Joe Tanner (03:12):
course, all the original seven have passed away,
and there are a number ofastronauts that participate in
ASF in various capacities, someas mentors like me, and some on
the selection committee, andothers in the leadership roles
and participate in the galas andthe innovation conference gala
and week that we're going totalk about here in a little bit
Matt Kirchner (03:35):
absolutely fascinating. Joe, so tell us a
little bit about the impact thatASF has had on the students
since this founding all the wayback in 1984 in
Joe Tanner (03:44):
total, over the years of the foundation, we have
given out 855 scholars,scholarships to scholars
totaling over $9 million it'snot trivial. The one word that
probably sticks out from thescholars themselves, who took a
survey last year, and the oneword is confidence that they got
(04:05):
from the ASF program. There'svalidation, I guess you would
say, of the fact that they areworking hard in school and
they're doing well, and heresomebody has recognized that
fact and made them astronautscholars. The other words that I
have from this survey actuallycome from the innovators
conference, and this is whereI'd like Curtis to tell us a
(04:26):
little bit about the innovatorsconference.
Matt Kirchner (04:28):
You've got confidence in there. We've got
validation. Tell us a little bitmore, Curtis, about the impact
that you think that the ASFprogram has had.
Curtis Althaus (04:36):
It's really hard to quantify, like Joe said,
because so much of the benefitis incremental. It's not like
you get the scholarship and thenimmediately your life changes.
There's the mentorship aspect,there's the networking aspect,
there's the family aspect of thescholarship, and all three of
those things, all of the thingsthat you get can make little
(04:57):
impacts on your career. But Joemeant. Innovators. And this is
an event that happens. Allastronaut scholars are invited
to it. It's a week long, gettogether, retreat, conference,
all of those things packed intoone. So
Matt Kirchner (05:13):
tell me you mentioned the word family. The
other things you talked aboutthe impacts, I suppose you might
expect, but you said the familyimpact as well. Go a little
deeper on that.
Curtis Althaus (05:21):
When I first got the astronaut scholarship in
2023 I was pretty nervous,because you see the list of
other scholars, and they'recoming from all around the
United States. They're from alldifferent areas in STEM and
really you don't know what toexpect. But pretty quickly, even
in the first few hours, sittingin a room with my class of
(05:41):
scholars, you realize prettyquickly that everybody is
welcoming and like minded in thesense that everybody cares about
the world, they care about eachother, they care about making a
difference, and they're allUsing their experiences to drive
some particular point ofinnovation, and so being a part
(06:04):
of that family, being a part ofa group like that, it has a
resonant impact on me as ascholar. It helps me pursue
those same things and makedifferences in my own area of
research and my area of study.
But also it's a group of peoplethat everyone cares and that is
a fantastic group to be a partof for that exact reason,
Matt Kirchner (06:26):
no question. So you're like minded. Everyone
cares, and I'm guessing, and Joealready kind of alluded to this.
Everyone's really, really smarttoo, right? So Curtis, you
probably maybe you're too modestto admit that, but I gotta
believe you're a really, reallysharp, smart individual as well
to be selected for this program,but certainly smarts and
intelligence that you knowthat's important, what do you
(06:48):
think they saw in youspecifically that that led you
to this amazing opportunity? One
Curtis Althaus (06:53):
of the things that I think really well
describes astronaut scholars isthey're multi dimensional.
They're not just good at school.
They also do very interestingthings outside of school. And in
my case, I'm a dancer. I doLatin dance, I perform, teach
travel, you name it. I do that.
(07:13):
In addition to a lot of randomthings that I do. My game of two
truths and a lie is verydifficult. I'll just say that,
yeah, for sure. Well,
Matt Kirchner (07:21):
and I would tell you, I think we've had a lot of
firsts on The TechEd Podcast inour 200 plus episodes. You I
think, are the first Latindancer that we've had on the
podcast, or at least the onethat's brought up the topic, how
did you get into that?
Curtis Althaus (07:32):
I should preface by saying, before college, I
never danced in my life. I mean,sometimes dance floor at a high
school dance, sometimes you'llsee me breaking a move, but some
Matt Kirchner (07:43):
will say that I've never danced in my life
either, although I've tried manytimes, right?
Curtis Althaus (07:48):
Yeah. So we have an event at the U of I called
Quad Day, and this is the LasVegas strip of U of I registered
student organizations. Everybodyhas their posters up and candy,
and they're trying to get you tosign up for their club. And it
just so happened that myfreshman year, I was at Quad
Day, and I walked past thisbooth of these dancers and these
(08:11):
black outfits with these redflowers, and I just thought it
was the coolest thing, coolestoutfit. It'd be cool to dance in
something like that, but it's along shot, right? So I go to the
audition. I think I flood theaudition, but long story short,
I somehow make it onto the team,and then a year later, I was
elected the artistic director ofthe team. I'd done music for
(08:32):
most of my life, but I then wenton to teach and travel and dance
all across the United Statesafter that fascinating
Matt Kirchner (08:40):
story and a real good lesson, I think, especially
to our students that maybe getpretty caught up in academics,
and it's easy to do that, thatit really is, in a lot of cases,
that well rounded student andthat person that has a great
academic story, but also has agreat story outside of academia
and their coursework that reallyattracts whether it's an
employer or, in this case, TheASF, to that particular
(09:01):
individual, and then mentorsthem along this incredible
journey. So here we've gotCurtis, who was both a 2023 and
2024 astronaut scholar, goingback before that, all the way
back to 2016 Joe, the formalmentorship program launched as
part of ASF, and you've been amentor ever since that very
first year, so So nine yearssince that launch. So tell us
(09:22):
about your experience as anastronaut, and specifically how
and as a pilot, for that matter,how those experiences shaped
your approach to how you mentorsomeone like Curtis.
Joe Tanner (09:32):
The decision I made to go into the Navy and become a
Navy pilot enabled me to get ajob with NASA, also as a pilot
for eight years before I finallygot selected in the astronaut
office, I would not have beenselected if I hadn't done both
those two things. I'm sure ofit. And so those two experiences
critically formed my ability tohelp someone like Curtis, who
(09:53):
would like to follow a similarpath he's pursuing more of the
academic qualifications becomean astronaut. He's going to get
a PA. HD and maybe work in theindustry a little bit, and I
trust that he and I will stillbe communicating at that at that
time, the mentorship period isfor one year, but I find it so
rewarding and so much fun reallygetting to know these incredible
(10:15):
scholars and developing arelationship with them that I
keep in contact with probablyhalf of the nine mentees that
I've had over the years, and
Matt Kirchner (10:23):
that was gonna be my question. So you build these
relationships, then a lot ofthese folks you end up staying
in touch with over time, that'sit's gotta be interesting. Is
there one in particular that youwould look to that's really
accomplished, some things thatmight be notable or done, some
interesting things that might benotable the audience? Yeah,
Joe Tanner (10:37):
well, most of them are still in their PhD paths
right now. And for instance, Ithink it was three scholars ago
that, and she's going toVanderbilt medical school. And
my wife and I were passingthrough Nashville, and so we
just stopped by and had lunchwith her. It's a beautiful
campus too, by the way, I'vebeen there. We were off campus,
went to Chick fil A as myeffect. But okay, and the big
(11:00):
football game between Texas,Andy was going on that
afternoon, so she had to leaveand go to the game, but she's
doing great having a good time,and I'm going to keep track of
you, so don't change yourtelephone number. There
Matt Kirchner (11:12):
you go. That's got to be so rewarding as a
mentor to look back severalyears later and yeah, see them
on that path. So certainlycredit to you for staying in
touch with those people and andalso for just being engaged as
you are as a mentor. It'sreally, really important, as I
mentioned in the intro, to havepeople that we can look up to.
Curtis, clearly, Joe is somebodythat you look up to with a
tremendous amount of gratitudeand admiration. You know, as
(11:34):
you're continuing along thispath in your academic journey, I
guess Joe had mentioned thatyou're pursuing the PhD route
right now. You're studyingchemistry and astrophysics at
the University of Illinois, sowork in you know, both the
aspirations toward the the PhDwork, but also talk about what
first drew you to theseparticular fields, and how being
part of ASF has influenced thatparticular path in your goals as
(11:56):
a student, individual inacademia. Yeah,
Curtis Althaus (11:59):
so I'm a chemistry and astrophysics
double major, and I started offas a chemistry major, and I was
a Lego kid growing up, so Iplayed with Legos from dawn till
dusk. And in many ways,chemistry is similar to Legos,
in that you're assembling atomsto build molecules that do all
sorts of amazing things. But Ihad a really great high school
(12:20):
chemistry teacher who gave methe freedom to do some
experimentation in high school,which eventually led me to
joining an electrochemistry labwhere I continue to work today,
working on energy storageresearch. The astrophysics part
was just an interest of mine. Ireally like space. It's another
thing that Joe and I share. Itwas a love for space, but this
(12:42):
space is the place where you seethe coolest physics, black
holes, supernovas, novas, and Ijust wanted to learn more about
that, so, just
Matt Kirchner (12:51):
so I understand this correctly. So you're like,
going through organic chemistry,and you're like, I think in my
spare time, I'll just pursue adegree in astrophysics. Is that
kind of how this came about.
Yeah,
Curtis Althaus (13:01):
that's about it.
All the different areas are notas distinctive as you might
think. They all use a lot of thesame principles, but I've always
loved learning new things, andthis kind of feeds my passion
for that absolutely.
Matt Kirchner (13:15):
So connect that to ASF and kind of what you're
learning in the current workyou're doing, and how that's
influencing your coursework andyour experience as you go
through the university. Yeah, asJoe mentioned
Curtis Althaus (13:25):
in the future, if I was given the opportunity
to fly to Mars or fly to themoon, I would take it in a
heartbeat. But I think so muchof mentorship goes past just by
professional aspirations, everystudent, every person who's
faced a transition in their lifehas to make some big decisions,
whether it be choosing betweenan internship or choosing
(13:48):
between grad schools orundergrad and those sorts of
things are the exact things thatmentors are set up to help me
with, and Joe has been veryinstrumental in my decision
making, both for grad school andfor, like I said, internships.
We've got a great story aboutthat, but I won't steal his
thunder. Well, if we don't getto that story, we're gonna come
(14:11):
back to it, but keep rolling.
Yeah, it just mentorship. Goesbeyond my chemistry and my
astrophysics degree and theenergy storage research I do in
the future. It's just so muchbigger than that. And that's, I
think, what the value well, bothbecause Joe is an astronaut and
I would like to be an astronautone day, but also just Joe has
lived a lot more life than Ihave, and there are a lot of
(14:33):
lessons that he has learned thatI am learning now. And that's, I
think where I get a lot, how
Matt Kirchner (14:42):
incredibly gratifying Joe, it must be to
hear someone talk about yourmentorship and the influence
that you're having on them inreal time, in the way that
Curtis has, and clearly you'vebuilt up a tremendous
relationship together. And Iknow that it's a lot of
commitment both sides, andbuilding that trust and getting
to a place where you're clearlyhaving. A huge, huge influence.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat mentorship. Joe, now you've
(15:03):
been doing this a while. Wesuggested 2016 is when you
started with the ASF program.
But no doubt you've beenmentoring folks for a long, long
time. So what motivates you tokeep doing this? You know, is it
the kind of things we just heardfrom Curtis? Are there other
things that motivate you? Andhow should other individuals who
are maybe thinking about takingon a more formal mentorship
role. Be thinking about that,and what advice would you have
for
Joe Tanner (15:25):
them? Well, like Curtis mentioned, it's really
about relationship, and ASF ingeneral, is about family. They
they talk about family all thetime, and we are one big family,
and I'm just happy to be a partof it, and I'm going to keep
doing the mentoring, because Ireally enjoy it. I mean, who
wouldn't want to get to know aperson like Curtis? And we've
actually met in person threetimes, some of my other mentees.
(15:47):
It was all on Zoom or meetingsor something like that, but
we've been together. He's he'svisited my house here with his
father and spent the night andbeen to my house in Danville. I
was University of Illinois grad,also from Danville, and he came
over and we tromped around inthe woods, and he mentioned,
I've lived more years than him.
I think this was menace, acompliment. We were going up and
down the hills in the woods. Andhe says, you know, you're doing
(16:09):
pretty good for an old guy.
Unknown (16:14):
Absolutely, that's terrific.
Joe Tanner (16:16):
The key about mentoring and Curtis alluded to
it is that I don't need to be anexpert in astrophysics or
chemistry. I know a little bitabout both, but not enough to
advise a person who's eventuallygoing to be a PhD candidate. But
the real key is to care, to careabout what they're doing, and to
listen, and more than you talk,ask questions, don't make
(16:36):
decisions for the mentee,although I think he wanted me to
tell that one story about thecoin. He was having a tough time
figuring out what to do forsummer or something. I can't
remember what the topic was now.
Curtis, what was it? Yeah, it
Curtis Althaus (16:49):
was choosing between two internships, a NASA
internship and a LawrenceLivermore internship. That's
Joe Tanner (16:55):
right, he had a NASA internship and a Livermore and I
said, Well, flip a coin. And hesaw, no, we're not gonna flip a
coin. That's so no, no, no, no.
Flip the coin, and if you don'tlike the way it turned out and
you want to flip it again,that's
Unknown (17:08):
your answer. There you go. That's awesome. I love that
you don't
Joe Tanner (17:12):
need to have a PhD in astrophysics to help them
make that decision. It's justabout caring and relationship
and frankly, just being a friendand Curtis and I for our good
friends, yeah, that's
Matt Kirchner (17:25):
clear. You can tell, you can tell that mutual
admiration just in spending thisshort period of time we've had
together. And I, you know, Ireally love the fact that you
talk about Joe. I think a lot oftimes when people think about
being a mentor, it's likeimparting all this great, grand
wisdom to another individual andand so much of whether it's
leadership, mentorship, evenselling, if you will, or sharing
(17:46):
ideas with other people andtrying to bring them over to
your side. When we start withcaring and we start with
listening, it's amazing how muchfurther along we get. And so
that advice, I think, foranybody who's going to be a
mentor, it's not aboutnecessarily what you know. It's
about how you can help. And youdon't know how you can help
until you listen and kind ofreally understand where somebody
is, and it's clear that that'sthe approach that the two of you
(18:08):
have had to this relationship.
Curtis, it's got to be sorewarding to hear Joe talk about
you in those in those kindterms, but also just to think
back on the idea of lifedecisions, flipping a coin, what
could have been, or what mighthave been you making this
decision to pursue ASF andultimately being able to
participate. Was there a momentalong the way, since you started
this journey, this ASF journey,that you would point to, that
(18:31):
you're like, wow, this reallycodifies everything, all the
great things about what it meansto me to be part of ASF and this
experience that you're going
Curtis Althaus (18:41):
through, yeah, I think there are two points. The
first was the first innovatorsgala that I went to, just being
able to meet all of thedifferent ASF scholars and all
of the different ASF affiliates,and really realizing how much of
a family, and I think a familyis the best descriptor of what
ASF is, how much of a family ASFactually was, and to feel a part
(19:04):
of that family was a really,really unique and amazing
experience. The other one wasgoing to visit Joe out in
Danville, Illinois. This was oneof the first times we met, the
first time we met in person. Butjust who else can say they did
yard chores with an astronaut ora former astronaut? Right? Yeah,
(19:25):
that's awesome for me. Like, I'mgrateful to have Joe as a
mentor, and you know, heinspires me to be a mentor to
people below me, and tohopefully be an ASF mentor one
day. But I think those twopoints best describe that.
Matt Kirchner (19:40):
That's fantastic.
So the this whole idea offamily, we've talked about that
a bit, and you've talked aboutall the support and the non
competitive atmosphere, and morejust the the caring that you're
receiving from other peopleparticipating on this journey.
And I can honestly say I'venever done chores with an
astronaut, so I don't know whocan say that, but I can say that
that I haven't so to have that,that experience together. Are
really, really important and andyou talk about this family, and
(20:02):
this isn't just a family, Joe,right? That is like a two year
experience. And then we're offto the next thing. One of the
really interesting aspects ofASF is that once you're a
scholar, you're a lifelongmember of this organization. So
let's start with you, Joe, andjust talk about what happens
after this education process.
You touched a little bit, Joe onstaying in touch with some of
(20:23):
the folks you've mentored in thepast. How do you see this moving
forward with Curtis? Kind ofpost education or post, you
know, undergraduate degree timeand so on.
Joe Tanner (20:32):
It's up to Curtis or what he wants to do. There is no
requirement, there's no paybackon the on the scholarship. But
most scholars want to be a partof ASF in some way that they are
able. And like Curtis said that,I think you'd be a great mentor,
and when it's time. And I'msure, first of all, he is very
popular with the staff at ASF.
They love Curtis, so when he hashad enough experience and he's
(20:57):
got time to do it, I'm sure thathe will be welcomed with open
arms as a mentor anything elsehe wants to do when the scholars
come back to ASF, I think itadds strength to the whole
program. It's just good foreverybody and good for the
scholars. Gives them anotherpurpose other than their
research or business or family,whatever they do on something,
it's just a great opportunityfor them, and, of course, for
(21:20):
the farmers and the staff thatare working so hard anyway,
absolutely, our reward comesdaily. Almost
Matt Kirchner (21:28):
no question. So what is it that the staff loves
so much about you? Curtis, whatare you doing right in that
regard? And then talk a littlebit about how you see, you know,
you talked about wanting to be amentor at some point, but how do
you see this relationship withASF evolving as your career
heads forward? Yeah, I don't
Curtis Althaus (21:42):
know. We've talked about if they need dance
lessons at the next ASF event oncall for that you're the guy,
huh? Awesome. But I don't know,my journey in ASF has already
started to move past just theformal events that they set up.
I went on a trip with a few ofmy ASF classmates to New Orleans
(22:03):
a few months ago. We're planninga backpacking trip in Montana.
I've made a point to meet ASFscholars at most of the places I
travel to, and just right offthe bat, from when you meet
somebody you haven't seen in twoyears, you just hit it off, and
immediately it is really afamily. That's the best way I
can describe it. But I don'tknow, I have received so much
(22:24):
from ASF, and it only feelsright for me to give back in the
future and to give to the nextgeneration of scholars and
continue feeding this familythat we've developed, feeding
this
Matt Kirchner (22:36):
family and giving back Joe. I've got, I've got to
believe, in fact, I already knowthat that's incredibly important
to you. We've got individualsfrom not just astronauts, but
also professionals Joe that comefrom all kinds of STEM fields
that get involved with the ASFas mentors. So what would you
say to professionals in otherSTEM fields that might be
considering becoming a mentor?
What advice would you have hadfor them if they're unsure about
(22:58):
how they can contribute to aprogram like ASF, or what do
mentors bring beyond just thatacademic support if
Joe Tanner (23:07):
you have a passion for helping other people, I
think mentoring is one of themost noblest methods to help
another human being along thepath that maybe you've already
traveled. But even if youhaven't followed that exact
path, you have, like Curtis saidearlier, you gain wisdom and
life, and you can pass that onto someone who's at a stage that
(23:27):
you remember being at thatstage. And there's lots of
times, and I wish I had a goodmentor in my life, of course, my
parents and everything. Butsometimes it's great to get an
independent view, and you don'tnecessarily need to be an expert
in the field of the person youare mentoring, you have the life
experiences, and those are ofvalue,
Matt Kirchner (23:46):
absolutely. So those life experiences, those
valuable experiences that youbring to mentees like Curtis and
Curtis, I know ASF has helpedbuild a strong community, right?
We've talked about that, we'vetalked about the family, we've
talked about all the people thathave been scholars, have been on
on this journey, and it's anopportunity for them to network.
It's certainly an opportunityfor them to continue their
learning. And we've talked aboutthe one on one mentorship, the
(24:08):
time you spent with Joe, eitherbeing mentored by him, learning
from his wisdom, spending timein his home, doing chores with
him in Danville and so on. Youknow, in addition to all that
mentoring and some of theseother experiences that you had
through ASF. Is there anythingelse that you would point to
where you're like, Wow, this isa really, really good reason to
be part of ASF. I want
Curtis Althaus (24:28):
to answer that by expanding the definition of
mentorship to not just a formalmentorship relationship that Joe
and I have, but just the sharingof experiences and sharing of
ideas and life lessons, and thatis something that happens at
every single ASF event. Everysingle person I've ever met has
shared with me something thatI've never known before, whether
(24:51):
it be research related, whetherit be life related. I've met
generals. I've met currentastronauts. I've met people
who've worked in Antarctica.
Jessica, I've met researcherswho work on cancer detection,
students from other schools whodo even more interesting stuff
than I could ever come up within my wildest dreams. So the
formal mentorship relationshipis a focal point of one of the
(25:13):
things I've received. But evenmore than that, just the
relationships that I've had theopportunity to build with
different people has been morefruitful than I ever could have
imagined. And that's what Ithink makes me want to come back
for more every time.
Matt Kirchner (25:29):
And it sounds like, I mean, you talk about
people, you know, doingincredible research, you know,
working on solutions for cancer,people that are, you know,
working in Antarctica. I mean,is that kind of your I don't
want to say typical. But I mean,when you get together with these
folks, Curtis, is it peopledoing really kind of, you know,
beyond the average types of workand engaging in beyond the
(25:50):
average types of experiences, isthat kind of the fabric of the
community when you're together?
Curtis Althaus (25:55):
Absolutely, I think the thing that brings
people into the fold of ASF, theASF scholars, I should say, is
research. Almost all of them doreally, really interesting
research. And I should add,sometimes the research comes
along with being, say, a singer,a musician or a champion power
lifter or an ultra marathonrunner. Oftentimes it is
(26:18):
multiple things that thesepeople excel at and so, yeah, I
would definitely characterizeour community, at least the
scholar community, as beingpeople who just care about the
world and who are doing amazingthings to change it. You know,
Matt Kirchner (26:33):
we had a guest on the podcast not too long ago in
the form of John Murphy, I thinkhe was just last week. And John
is Senior Vice President withthe US Chamber of Commerce, and
talked about, you know, when wetalk at the end of this podcast
about advice that people wouldoffer to others, and we'll get
to that with the two of you in afew moments as well. One of the
things that John talked aboutwas just seeking out people who
(26:55):
are different from you andseeking out people who are he's,
he used the term weird, but he'skind of says, you know, find
weird people, right? And thatand not as a pejorative at all,
but just people that areeccentric, people that are doing
really fascinating things. Andit sounds like that's the kind
of community in a lot of waysthat you found with ASF, which
makes it super, superfascinating. Joe, I want to
talk. We've got a couplequestions left here for both you
and for Curtis, the questions welove posing to our guests here
(27:19):
on the podcast. And as much aswe have a lot of educators that
listen to this podcast, we havea lot of students, in fact, that
listen to this podcast, wealways like to ask a couple
questions about education.
Everybody had their owneducation journey. You no doubt
had your own unique journey. Soas you look back on education or
think about education today, isthere an opinion or a belief
that you have about educationthat might be a little bit
(27:40):
different than everybody else's.
Joe Tanner (27:43):
So I was a degreed mechanical engineer. I went from
that degree, took a four monthtrip to Europe, and then I
joined the Navy. Was in the Navyfor six years, and I was kind of
a ski bum, or didn't use myengineering degree for four
years. Then I came to NASA as apilot for eight years, and then
that 16 years as an astronaut,and then I finally used my
(28:03):
engineering degree while I wentto the University of Colorado as
an instructor, a teachingprofessor. But every day of my
life I have used what I learnedin engineering basically a way
to think and the way to solveproblems. And that's basically
what the real value of myengineering degree was, is it
taught me how to think and howto solve.
Matt Kirchner (28:24):
I love that taught you how to think. I mean,
you think about anybody'sjourney, you know, it's
secondary education, butespecially post secondary
education, learning how tothink, learning how to solve
problems. Super, superimportant. And there's no doubt
that somebody in a STEM field,somebody with an engineering
degree, that's what you'redoing, right? We're solving
problems, and so being able touse that day in and day out,
you're also probably the firstperson I've ever met, and I'm
(28:47):
almost for sure, who graduatedfrom ski bum to Navy pilot.
That's impressive as well. Soawesome that you're able to sort
that one out.
Joe Tanner (28:55):
Actually, I did the Navy pilot first, and then I was
a ski bum. Got it. Okay? Thenyou went to NASA. I tried to get
a job at Copper Mountain skiresort, and I figured, since I
was a heavy equipment operator,ie flying a multi ton airplanes
off an aircraft carrier, that Ishould probably be qualified to
drive a snow cat and grim themslopes. They didn't agree,
(29:15):
really. They didn't agree atall.
Matt Kirchner (29:17):
Yeah, as our producer, Melissa, knows I'm a
skier, I spend a good probablyfive or six weeks every the
first quarter of every year on amountain, skiing, or at least
skiing part of the day. So Ihave great admiration, by the
way, for what it's worth for forsnow cat drivers. And that's no
that's no easy task. But yeah,you would think, if you can fly
a plane, you should be able tofigure out how to how to operate
a snow cat. But that's that'snot my job. Just to sort out.
(29:39):
Curtis, same question for you.
You're a little bit earlier, alittle bit newer in your
education, career and path thanmaybe Joe and I are, but what
you know as you're kind ofmoving through it, what's a
attitude or a belief or aparadigm that you have about
education that might surprisesome folks?
Curtis Althaus (29:54):
My answer to this question also stems from my
experience. There are a lot ofthings stem from my experience.
It is. Stuff, but we havescholars from all over the
United States, from schools,from HBCUs, from colleges,
covering blanketing the country.
And in meeting the scholars fromall these places, it's made me
realize one thing, and that onething is that brilliant people
(30:16):
can come from anywhere. Ireally, truly believe that
brilliant people can come fromall walks of life and from all
schools. And I'm always verycareful to judge until I meet
people after having met so manypeople from so many different
places, that's
Matt Kirchner (30:35):
awesome. Speaking of great messages, Curtis and
we'll talk to you first and thenask this final question of Joe
as well. A lot of the guests wehave on the podcast, we asked
them to go way, way, way back intime to when they were a 15 year
old sophomore in high school. Inyour case, maybe you don't have
to turn the clock back quite asfar as some of us. But if you
could go back to that point intime in your life, what advice
(30:55):
would you give yourself as a 15year old,
Curtis Althaus (30:58):
going back to my 15 year old self, I could not
guess the path that I took toget to where I am today. I could
probably guess roughly where Iwould be going, what direction I
would be going, butrealistically, like where I am
today was a culmination ofrandom chance and weird
experiences that were eitherpositively or negatively
(31:19):
impacting my trajectory. And Ithink if I had to give advice to
my 15 year old self, it wouldbe, do everything that you can
to prepare you for what you wantto do in the future. But don't
dissuade yourself from doingthat one weird thing that other
people tell you, like, Oh, don'tdo Latin dancing. Don't learn
how to play the cooling guysdon't don't do those things. No,
(31:41):
I think all of those thingscontributed to who I am today,
and I'm not afraid to veer offinto wild directions. Now,
that's perfect,
Matt Kirchner (31:50):
yeah, so, you know, stay the course, and know
what course you're on, and workhard at it, but don't be afraid
to go off on a couple oftangents. And that's really that
creativity and that serendipitycertainly is what, what life is
all about in so many ways, sogreat, great advice for a 15
year old. Joe Tanner, samequestion to you. Maybe you got
to turn the clock back a coupleyears earlier than than Curtis
(32:11):
had to to when you were at 15year old sophomore in high
school. This whole career, Navypilot, NASA pilot, astronaut,
ski bum, all of that in front ofyou, but you maybe don't know
exactly how that is going towork itself out. You go back to
that 15 year old Joe Tanner.
What advice do you give him?
Joe Tanner (32:28):
Well, first of all, man, I don't want to go back to
the 15 year old version of me.
That was hard enough the firsttime. No, I would say to myself,
whatever you do, do it with yourwhole heart and your whole
effort. No halfways, noshortcuts, no laziness. I didn't
learn that lesson until I gotinto the Navy, and they helped
teach me that there's one goodthing about the military. But I
(32:53):
realized then that if I wantsomething bad enough I wanted to
fly jet airplanes off carriers,I wanted that bad enough that
you better go all in oneverything that you do. The
other thing I would want to sayis I got permission to share a
quote from a high schoolstudent, as a high school
graduating senior at an awardsbank in Florida that I was the
(33:13):
keynote for, and afterwards, Iasked him he was the primary
winner of a national award. Imean, this is top shelf kind of
guys, but I asked him, Patrick,what do you really want to do in
life? And he looked right at me,and he says, You know, I don't
know, but I'm doing everything Ican to prepare myself to do it.
And I told him I thought thatwas most brilliant answer I'd
(33:34):
ever heard, yeah, from a highschool student, too. Can I use
it? And he said, Absolutely, soI did. I love that. Yeah,
Matt Kirchner (33:42):
that's really, really good advice. All that
certainly giving everything,giving something, everything
you've got. There are noshortcuts, there's no halfway
points. There's certainly nolaziness along that route. Give
it everything you have, whateveryou're up to, and then you know,
not knowing for sure what thefuture is going to be, but
preparing yourself for thatfuture. Great advice from a high
school student himself to JoeTanner, and advice that he would
(34:05):
give himself as a 15 year old.
Very proposed answer to that. SoI'm so glad that, first of all,
the two of you are giving that100% going all in on this
relationship, this mentor,mentee relationship, working so
hard at crafting Curtis future,and in the process creating this
incredibly rewarding opportunityfor Joe, you've created an
(34:25):
incredibly rewarding opportunityfor me to learn all about the
astronaut scholarship foundationhere on this episode of The
TechEd Podcast. And just can'tthank you, Joe, both to you. Joe
Tanner, the former astronaut andASF mentor and Curtis ALD house,
astronaut, scholar andUniversity of Illinois student.
To both of you, thank you somuch for being with us. Thank
(34:46):
you. Thank you, man, what agreat conversation we had with
both Joe and Curtis today on TheTechEd Podcast, we talked about
the show notes, and you willfind those at TechEd
podcast.com/a A S, F, TechEdpodcast.com/asf. Check out those
show notes. Check us out onsocial media. We're on LinkedIn.
We are on Instagram. We are onTick, tock, anywhere you go for
(35:10):
your social media, Facebook aswell. You will find The TechEd
Podcast when you do reach outand say hello and don't forget
to join us again next week onThe TechEd Podcast. Until then,
my name is Matt Kirchner, thanksfor being with us. You.
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