George P. Burdell
Template:Short description George P. Burdell is a fictitious student officially enrolled at Georgia Tech in 1927 as a practical joke. Since then, he has supposedly received all undergraduate degrees offered by Georgia Tech, served in the military, gotten married, and served on Mad Magazine's Board of Directors, among other accomplishments.
At one point, Burdell had led the online poll for TimeTemplate:'s 2001 Person of the Year award.<ref name="time">Template:Cite web</ref> He has evolved into an important and notorious campus tradition; all Georgia Tech students learn about him at orientation.<ref name="Nique">Template:Cite news</ref>
History
Origins
George P. Burdell was created by William Edgar "Ed" Smith (BS in Ceramic Engineering) in 1927. Smith conceived the idea for Burdell when he mistakenly received two Georgia Tech enrollment forms.<ref name="myth">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 50 years later, in a 1977 Atlanta newspaper interview, Smith said that he originally intended to enroll his Academy of Richmond County principal, George P. Butler, but instead changed the last name to Burdell, the maiden name of his best friend's mother.<ref name="myth" /><ref name="TBook">Template:Cite web</ref>
After enrolling him, Smith signed Burdell up for all the same classes he had. With the help of friends, Smith would do all schoolwork 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 1930, the school had awarded Burdell a bachelor's degree,<ref name="myth"/> and a few years later awarded the fictitious student a master's degree.<ref name="myth"/> The college listed him as an official alumnus, even though his name has remained on the active student rolls.<ref name="SI">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1930, the ANAK Society, Georgia Tech's oldest secret society, offered Burdell membership.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
An early prank using Burdell's name came after someone was snubbed by a fraternity he had intended to join. "That irritated [him]. He ordered a truckload of furniture to be delivered C.O.D. to that fraternity. Of course, the order was made by George P. Burdell."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
World War II
During World War II, service members continued the hoax, with Burdell's name appearing on various fronts. For example, he was listed on the flight crew of a B-17 bomber, flying 12 missions over Europe with the 8th Air Force in England, until a Georgia Tech graduate became the new operations officer, recognized the name on the flight log, and ended the charade.<ref name="TBook"/>
Postwar
In 1958, members of the senior class of Agnes Scott College announced the wedding engagement of Burdell and fictional Agnes Scott student Ramona Cartwright in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 50th wedding anniversary of "Mr. and Mrs. George P. Burdell from Atlanta" was acknowledged on the September 23, 2006 broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A recording can be found at a time of 1:13:55.
To this day, George P. Burdell is listed as a letterman in the official media guides of two Tech sports: from 1928 to 1930 in football<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 1956 to 1958 in basketball.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1969, Georgia Tech computerized its class registration, believing it had successfully found a way to keep students from registering Burdell for class that semester. As it turned out, hackers registered him for every class at the school that quarter, over 3,000 credit hours.<ref name="TBook" /> He was subsequently re-enrolled several times, including in 1975 and 1980.<ref name="SI" />
George P. Burdell is listed as Georgia Tech Swimming & Diving's team captain of 1988 on their record board, even though there was no team that year after the demolition of the Heisman Gym.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The publishers of Mad magazine listed Burdell as a member of its board of directors from 1969 until 1981.<ref name="Nique"/> In 1991, a check from Kraft Foods bore the signature "George P. Burdell".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> When Time magazine was attempting to select their Person of the Year for 2001, George Burdell was the leading candidate (holding at least 57 percent of the votes) until the magazine removed him from the running.<ref name="time"/><ref name="Nique"/>
WREK,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Georgia Tech student radio station, lists him as a staff member, and he is credited for playing baritone on the 1995 album Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection, which was made in Atlanta by musicians from the local alternative rock scene.<ref>Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection, bn.com. Retrieved 5-30-2012</ref> In 2000, Burdell was named an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Burdell was credited as a member of the choir of the 2006 album There is a Place.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
George's fictitious son, George P. Burdell Jr., has been a proctor for several classes at Georgia Tech.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Modern era
With the introduction of Georgia Tech Online Master of Science in Computer Science in 2013, George P. Burdell has been a presence in its social media, with students attempting to stake a claim of his legacy in Reddit.
On November 27, 2014, George P. Burdell allegedly hacked into the University of Georgia's online master calendar to post a new event titled "Get Ass Kicked by GT" during the time of the annual Georgia Tech football game .<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This prank was meant to celebrate the 100-year-old tradition of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. While the author of the new calendar event was marked as George P. Burdell, undergraduate Computer Engineering student Ryan Pickren was ultimately arrested and indicted for the crime.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During a speech made by US President Barack Obama held at Georgia Tech in the McCamish Pavilion on March 10, 2015,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the president jokingly indicated that he was supposed to be introduced by George P. Burdell, but no one could find him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On June 25, 2019, George P. Burdell's name flew engraved on the Prox-1 satellite mission designed and built by the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. His name is listed along with all the other students who worked on the mission. The satellite was part of the Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2010, George P. Burdell IV edited Wikipedia,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and his cousin George Burdell from the class of 81 began editing in 2025.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Legacy
Burdell has been a campus icon at Georgia Tech.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Georgia Tech students or alumni have often used the name as an alias when they do not want to disclose their real name.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2006, there was a store in Georgia Tech's student center named Burdell's.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Primary source inline</ref>
See also
- List of fictitious people
- Eustace B. Nifkin, fictional student of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
- Josiah S. Carberry, fictional professor at Brown University
- Jakob Maria Mierscheid, fictional politician in the German Bundestag