SUMMIT HILL, Pa. — In the 1960s, a dream and fascination with space was born on a porch in Summit Hill.
"She would go out there on that porch from the time she was very young. I'm telling you, three, four, five years old, and all she did was look at the stars. She was always interested as to what was going on up here," said Joseph Zuber.
As of Wednesday, the young mind that was molded in Carbon County by looking at sunsets and the stars has since gone on to work with the last four United States presidential administrations.
Maria Zuber, a 62-years-old Panther Valley High School graduate, has been named to President Joe Biden's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
"When she comes home, she's just Maria. I can picture her at the table in the dinette sitting with her brothers and sisters, laughing, having fun, talking about her childhood," recalls Dolores Zuber, Maria's mother. "She doesn't get into her job, though."
While Maria keeps a low profile according to her parents, her resume pops off the page.
She walked on to play basketball and attended the University of Pennsylvania. She works for NASA and is the vice president of research at MIT.
Now, she will have used to her fascination with science and space to work with the 43, 44, 45, and now 46th presidents of the United States.
"It's with a great deal of humility; I'm not just saying that. That's just the way Maria always had been. She says 'I'll work as hard as I can, I'll do whatever I can for the people of America. That's the way I am," Joseph said.
From a house in Summit Hill to NASA and The White House, it all started with a simple dream.