Start scanning a list of "professional memberships" for someone who teaches behavioral neuroscience at the college level, and you'll find all the usual entries: Animal Behavior Society ... Society for Neuroscience ... Association of Professional Flight Attendants ...

What was that last one again?

"Passengers are reluctant to believe that I'm a published research scientist in the field of animal communication and comparative neurobiology," says DFW flight attendant/purser Blinda McClelland ... uh, make that Dr. Blinda McClelland. "I may read something relevent to my research interests over someone's shoulder while working on the beverage cart and talk to them about their research or career. They change their minds quickly."

Blinda McClelland in her University of Texas classroom.

McClelland, who has been with American since 1978, says "I like to take the opportunity to inform the general public that flight attendants are accomplished, interesting people," and with her background, it's hard to argue.

When she's not busy flying, McClelland teaches in the school of biological sciences at the University of Texas, and is assistant managing editor of the academic journal Brain, Behavior and Evolution.

The journal is a monthly publication focusing on the evolutionary and behavioral aspects of the brain; McClelland's job is to copy-edit submissions for publication. "When you see me in the airport," she says, "I usually have a couple of manuscripts in my tote bag. Editing occupies a lot of my layover time."

"Twin" Careers ... Literally
Back in Austin, meanwhile, she's responsible for teaching classes like "Introduction to Biopsychology" and "Ecology, Evolution and Society." Brain, Behavior and Evolution editor Dr. Walt Wilczynski, who was also McClelland's Ph.D. adviser, says, "Blinda's got the type of personality and humor that gets people to do what they'd rather not do, but somehow feel like she's done them a favor by making them do it."

McClelland says her academic work would "certainly not be as easy if I didn't interact with the general public on a regular basis. I often use the people skills I've acquired with American when I'm dealing with students and manuscript authors."

Derek Hagman, a UT graduate student who has worked as a TA in McClelland's classroom, says "I'm impressed with her energy. Knowing what she has to put up with here in the classroom and in the skies, it's amazing how patient and helpful she can be — especially in light of her energetic twins at home."

That's right, McClelland and her husband Howard Liljestrand are the proud parents of Emily and Frasier, active young fourth graders involved in ballet, karate and scouts. Liljestrand is associate chairman of the civil engineering department at UT.

"Fortunately," says McClelland, "our schedules are flexible enough to allow us to break away, take the kids to various lessons, go to the grocery store, cut out Halloween costumes ... and still get back to school for our academic responsibilities."

The Family That Flies Together ...
McClelland first came to American after taking a leave of absence from her Master's program at Texas A&M. The path to American was a family legacy.

Her mother, Wilma "Bill" Morgan, was a "stewardess" for American Airlines from 1948 until 1951 when she married Blinda's father. "She always spoke in glowing terms of her time with American," says the Tulsa, Oklahoma native. "I thought it might be fun to fly a little myself. Strictly temporary, you understand, just because I needed a job."

Now, more than two decades later, McClelland is sharing the benefits of flying with her own family, and is particularly pleased that her children have had the opportunity to visit more than 20 American cities and numerous international destinations. However, she acknowledges, "When we travel, it's always in conjunction with a professional meeting and/or research. But we're able to go places and do things that we wouldn't otherwise do."

She juggles her dual academic/airline workload by restricting her teaching to Tuesday/Thursday classes, and is senior enough to select weekend-only flights. And while she's never had to miss teaching because of airline obligations, she does recall "a couple of particularly nerve-wracking months when I've actually taught while on layovers in Austin."

"I consider my airline job to be my first priority, though I think any impact my life might have on society will be through my teaching and publishing," says McClelland. "I feel very lucky to be able to balance the two options and wouldn't want to give up either one."