George P. Burdell
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George P. Burdell is a fictitious student officially enrolled at Georgia Tech in 1927 as a practical joke. He remains enrolled today. The credit for the origins of Burdell go to William Edgar "Ed" Smith, BS 1930. George P. Burdell was born when Ed received two enrollment forms for Georgia Tech. The exact origin of George Burdell's name is still hazy but Smith says it was originally intended to enroll his high school principal, George P. Butler. But he decided against it and changed the last name to Burdell.
After being enrolled, Burdell signed up for all the same classes Smith did. And Smith would do everything twice, changing it slightly to avoid professors catching his sham. When he had a test, he would take it twice and then turn it in under both names.
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During World War II, George P. Burdell served in the armed forces on many fronts, his name appearing around the world. He was listed on the flight crew of a B-17 bomber, flying 12 missions over Europe with the 8th Air Force in England. However, when a Tech graduate became the new operations officer for the crew, he immediately recognized the name on the flight log, and Burdell's flying days were over.
In 1969 Georgia Tech computerized its class registration, believing they had successfully found a way to keep George from registering for class that semester. As it turned out, he registered for every class, over 3,000 credit hours. And he did so several times, including 1975 and 1980.
George P. Burdell was listed on MAD Magazine's board of Directors from 1969 until 1981. Also, when TIME magazine was attempting to select their man of the year for 2001, George Burdell was the leading candidate (holding at least 57% of the votes) until the magazine removed him from the running. In addition, many rebate checks from Kraft Foods are signed by George.
He is a campus icon, and his name is revered among the students on campus. Incoming freshmen are introduced to him as one of the greatest alumni to graduate from the school. To this day stories fly around campus of where George will appear next. George P. Burdell is often paged by students during football away games at rival universities. Georgia Tech students or alumni often use his name as an alias when they do not want to disclose their real name. There is a store on Georgia Tech's campus named Burdell's.
External link
- More info on George P. Burdell at Georgia Tech (http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/tbook/traditions/burdell.html)
- Stay Informed profile (http://gtalumni.org/StayInformed/magazine/spr98/div02.html)
- More Info (http://georgepburdell.net)