WEBVTT - How Did Georgia Tech's Most Famous Student Never Exist?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey Brainstuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bog Obam here. Student life at the Georgia Institute

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<v Speaker 1>of Technology in Atlanta, known familiarly as Georgia Tech, is

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<v Speaker 1>not for the delicate of heart or the weak of mind.

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<v Speaker 1>Tech as a serious school for serious students who take

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<v Speaker 1>classes like competatorics, Deformable Bodies, quantum information and quantum computing,

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<v Speaker 1>and multi variable calculus. That last one, according to the

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<v Speaker 1>school catalog, covers linear approximation and Taylor's theorems, lagrange, multiples

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<v Speaker 1>and constrained optimization, multiple integration, and vector analysis, including the

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<v Speaker 1>theorems of Green, Gauss and Stokes, which means a need

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<v Speaker 1>a class just to understand what that class is about.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's also in this place that the big hearted,

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<v Speaker 1>practical joker George P. Burdell lives and flourishes. At Georgia Tech,

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<v Speaker 1>where the nerd quotient is admittedly and proudly high and

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<v Speaker 1>the academic pressures absurdly fire. It's important to have an

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<v Speaker 1>alumnus like old George as a beacon. You see, George

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<v Speaker 1>has made it through Georgia Tech and then some. The

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<v Speaker 1>man is a practical legend. Around Georgia Tech. Check that

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<v Speaker 1>George P. Berdell is in fact a literal legend at

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<v Speaker 1>Georgia Tech, and that's where things get interesting. Let's take

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<v Speaker 1>a step back. For the past twenty five years, Maryland

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<v Speaker 1>Summers has been running the Living History program at Georgia Tech,

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<v Speaker 1>designed to collect, preserve, and present stories of the institution,

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<v Speaker 1>which opened its stores to students in Summers has supervised

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<v Speaker 1>for posterity more than one thousand, one hundred on camera

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<v Speaker 1>interviews with alumni and other people who have a connection

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<v Speaker 1>to the school. She said, I learned something new about

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<v Speaker 1>Georgia Tech with every single interview I do. I know

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<v Speaker 1>more about Georgia Tech than I do about myself and nobody.

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<v Speaker 1>But nobody knows more about George P. Berdell than Summers.

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<v Speaker 1>The naturally reclusive Burdell, Summers says, has several degrees from Tech.

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<v Speaker 1>According to his rest Amy, Summers has the diplomas to

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<v Speaker 1>prove it. Burdell's first, a Bachelor of Science in General Science,

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<v Speaker 1>was awarded in nineteen thirty. Since then, Burdell has never

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<v Speaker 1>strayed far from Tech. According to Summers, he was registered

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<v Speaker 1>for more than three thousand hours of classes in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty nine, and in nineteen seventy five was registered for

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<v Speaker 1>every class in the spring semester. He was named a

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<v Speaker 1>regent's professor in nineteen seventy one. Throughout the years, he's

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<v Speaker 1>been named host of countless balls and dances on campus.

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<v Speaker 1>He's evidently lettered in both football and basketball. There was

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<v Speaker 1>a time even recently when you couldn't find a petition

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<v Speaker 1>at Tech that didn't have George Peeberdell's name on it.

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<v Speaker 1>Outside of Tech, he was reportedly involved in several flight

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<v Speaker 1>missions in World War Two and in the Korean War,

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<v Speaker 1>Vietnam Operation Desert Storm, and in the conflicts in both

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<v Speaker 1>Iraq and Afghanistan. His name has appeared on the membership

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<v Speaker 1>roles of just about every church in synagogue in the

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<v Speaker 1>greater Atlanta metro area. He is such an outside legend

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<v Speaker 1>now at sometimes dead Series Tech that a story is

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<v Speaker 1>told to everyone who attends FACET, the orientation program for

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<v Speaker 1>first year's Exchange and Transfer students, and their families. He

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<v Speaker 1>has become at this point as much tradition as legend.

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<v Speaker 1>It's probably important to point out here that George P.

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<v Speaker 1>Berdell technically was never alive. He sprung into being, as

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<v Speaker 1>it were, through the whim of a real life student,

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<v Speaker 1>William Edgar ed Smith. In Smith had an extra application

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<v Speaker 1>for the school, known then as the George's School of Technology,

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<v Speaker 1>and proceeded to fill it out with the name of

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<v Speaker 1>his high school principal, a University of Georgia alum by

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<v Speaker 1>the name of George Phineas Butler. Smith wrote in the

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<v Speaker 1>newspaper The Atlanta Constitution on September eleven of ninety seven,

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<v Speaker 1>nothing could be more amusing than to register him as

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<v Speaker 1>a tech freshman. But I lost my nerve after writing

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<v Speaker 1>George P. And finished with Burdell. Burdell was the maiden

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<v Speaker 1>name of his best friend's mother and was also, it seems,

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<v Speaker 1>the name of the family cat. Smith's creation took all

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<v Speaker 1>the classes that Smith did, with Smith and his friends

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<v Speaker 1>who were in on the prank helping with homework and tests. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>Burdell earned his first degree when Smith graduated in nineteen thirty,

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<v Speaker 1>the same year that George P. Earned that initial degree.

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<v Speaker 1>Other students took up where Smith left off. George P.

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<v Speaker 1>Berdell became part of tech lore, and the legend lives

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<v Speaker 1>on Summers tells the story of a tech military alum

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<v Speaker 1>returning bone tired from duty overseas, who heard this welcome

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<v Speaker 1>at the airport once he got home. George P. Berdell,

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<v Speaker 1>Please contact the concierge. She has endless stories like that.

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<v Speaker 1>George P. Has been paged in airports and restaurants and

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<v Speaker 1>sporting venues all over the world. At Florida Citrus Bowl

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<v Speaker 1>in Orlando, as Tech was on its way to winning

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<v Speaker 1>a share of the nineteen ninety National Football Championship, George P.

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<v Speaker 1>Was being called over the public address system. Tech students

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<v Speaker 1>passed and present all know and share in his exploits.

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<v Speaker 1>When Time magazine conducted an online poll in two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>one first person of the Year, Burdell edged his way

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<v Speaker 1>toward the top of voting until someone at the magazine

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<v Speaker 1>got wind and shut down his candidacy. New York Mayor

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<v Speaker 1>rute Off Giuliani was instead honored that year. Back in

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen fifties, a rumor circulated among Atlanta institutes of

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<v Speaker 1>higher education that Burdell was engaged and later married to

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<v Speaker 1>one Ramona Cartwright of nearby Agnes Scott College, and Summers

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<v Speaker 1>says the union never took place, not only because of

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<v Speaker 1>Burdell's oft engaged but never married reputation and other more

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<v Speaker 1>corporeal reasons. But because miss Cartwright never existed either, George's

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<v Speaker 1>name still finds its way onto wedding registers all the

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<v Speaker 1>time and whenever summers can get her way onto the

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<v Speaker 1>guestbooks at the funerals of Georgia Tech alums in this

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<v Speaker 1>pressure packed school, though the name Burdell is most synonymous

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<v Speaker 1>with good hearted, mostly harmless pranks, unless that is your

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<v Speaker 1>local business person who have largely grown wise to his tricks.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in the day, it was said Burdell had furniture

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<v Speaker 1>delivered to rival frats and to campus offices cash on delivery.

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<v Speaker 1>He has signed up for countless magazine subscriptions, online rebates, sweepstakes, entries, surveys,

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<v Speaker 1>you name it. He's on LinkedIn and Facebook. Twitter has

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<v Speaker 1>several accounts in his name. He has a great record

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<v Speaker 1>on rate by professors one review. You can't make up

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<v Speaker 1>how good this guy is. He's listed under the faculty

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<v Speaker 1>section in Tech School of Mechanical Engineering. President Barack Obama

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<v Speaker 1>gave him a shout out during a packed speech on

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<v Speaker 1>the Tech campus in two thousand and fifteen. Quote now

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<v Speaker 1>I understand George Peberdell was supposed to introduce me today,

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<v Speaker 1>but nobody could find him. He is omnipresent. Summers calls

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<v Speaker 1>him the spirit of Georgia Tech. The Living History Programs

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<v Speaker 1>Endowment Fund bears his name. A few years ago, Summers

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<v Speaker 1>sat down with George P. For the Programs One interview,

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<v Speaker 1>still reclusive, so much so that he requested his face

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<v Speaker 1>and voice be obscured in the video. Berdell, born in

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<v Speaker 1>a manner of speaking on April Fool's Day of eight,

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<v Speaker 1>described his childhood in Augusta, Georgia, his days at Tech,

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<v Speaker 1>and the world of tech today. These days, more than

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen thousand undergraduates are enrolled at Georgia Tech. It ranks

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<v Speaker 1>among the nation's top eight public schools, among the top

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<v Speaker 1>feign innovation and the top foreign engineering. It's graduated a

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<v Speaker 1>president Jimmy Carter, numerous athletic icons, including golfer Bobby Jones,

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<v Speaker 1>several astronauts, a ton of business titans, a Southern bred

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<v Speaker 1>comedian Jeff Foxworthy, and kind of one George P. Burdell,

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<v Speaker 1>who stands today as it's most famous alum. Though to

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<v Speaker 1>be sure, fame can be a little bit problematic, Summer said,

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<v Speaker 1>if your name is Burdell, you can't order a pizza

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<v Speaker 1>within fifty miles of Atlanta. Today's episode was written by

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<v Speaker 1>John Donovan and produced by Tyler Clay. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio's Has Stuff Works. For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other legendary topics, visit our

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<v Speaker 1>home planet how stuff Works dot com and for more

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