Tech Topics - Spring 2009 - (Page 10) ALUMNI HOUSE GOLD&WHITE John Burson COMMUNITY SERVICE John H. Burson III, ChE 56, MS Met 63, PhD ChE 64, earned a medical degree after working as an associate professor of chemical engineering at Tech. Today he practices medicine. The retired Army lieutenant colonel also twice deployed as a medical officer to Iraq and currently is serving in Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan. Burson is a former Alumni Association trustee. What does the Gold & White honor mean to you? Having my name associated with Dean Griffin and Georgia Tech is, to use a good-old-boy expression, walking in high cotton. Dean Griffin, of most anyone I can imagine, probably best exemplifies community service with his many years of service to the Georgia Tech community and nationally through his service in the Navy. What is your most memorable experience at Tech? Getting out. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? The late Willis Everett’s advice to our pledge class at Beta Theta Pi was to believe in ourselves and to work tirelessly to achieve our goals. This made a real impression on me and impacted my life in a very positive way. What is the most surprising way Tech has impacted your life? I can’t really say I am surprised, but I have found through the years that a Georgia Tech degree immediately identifies you as a person who knows how to work hard and will give your best. What book is on your nightstand right now? There are several, but the one I am currently focusing on is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. What was your hardest class? Organic chemistry under Erling Grovenstein, who was also probably the best professor I had while at Georgia Tech. What kind of car did you drive during college? I had no car until I was a third-quarter senior, but that was little impediment in those days. I hitchhiked anywhere I needed to go, including to my co-op job in Chattanooga. What was your favorite place near campus for a night out? Harry’s or the V. What is your favorite piece of Tech memorabilia? When I was 14 years old, I went with my father to a cotton-grading class at the old textile engineering building across from the Robbery. They gave me a Tech seal and that literally sealed my fate in determining where I would go to college. Later, when I was inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame, the award was, coincidentally, a framed version of that same seal. What hobbies do you currently have? I still play a good bit of tennis and racquetball, although not very well. Do you have any children and grandchildren? Yes, these are the real joys of my life. I have four children and five grandchildren. My oldest granddaughter, Erin Tice, is a recent highest honors graduate of Tech. Do you have any pets? I have two Australian shepherds that, like me, are getting pretty long in the tooth. Tom Coleman COMMUNITY SERVICE Tom Coleman Jr., IM 50, is chairman of the board and CEO of Bonitz of Georgia. He has been a tireless public servant in the Savannah region and throughout the state of Georgia. What does the Gold & White honor mean to you? It’s a great honor, not so much for anything I have done but to have been added to so many Tech names who were truly outstanding. What is your most memorable experience at Tech? I came to Tech through an athletic grant in aid. My freshman year, the team was on the Rose Bowl field preparing to go to Knoxville to open the football season against Tennessee. Coach Dodd had all of the B team gathered around for his usual pep talk so that we would not be too sad when told most of us were not going to make the Tennessee trip. He ended by saying he was not going to call any names. If we had a white game jersey in our locker, we were on the travel squad and would make the trip. We all ran to our lockers. I opened my door — and there was a game jersey! I went on to letter my freshman year. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? 10 My Irish grandmother said, “Show me your company, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Where did you live as a Tech student? Cloudman Dorm all four years. What is the most surprising way that Tech has impacted your life? When I went into business and began to call on customers, the conversation always included: “Where did you go to college?” I was always pleased and surprised when I replied, “Georgia Tech industrial management,” and the customers seemed to get more interested in what I had to say — even if they were Georgia grads. What is your favorite piece of Tech memorabilia? My mother kept a scrapbook on anything that happened during my years at Tech. I go through it quite often. What was your hardest class? Freshman chemistry — all three quarters! I completed 103 my senior year. Your easiest? At the time, I didn’t believe that Tech had an “easiest class.” What was your GPA when you graduated? I’m trying to forget. But I think it was a 3, plus or minus. What kind of car did you drive while you were at Tech? A 1934 Ford convertible with a rumble seat. It was exactly like the present Wreck but was painted green. What was you favorite place near campus for a night out? Harry’s on Spring Street. Do you have any hobbies? Until recently I played a little tennis. Now I go into my business office every day and bother as many of my employees as I can. On occasion, I take my boat out to crab or fish. Do you have children and grandchildren? I have six adult children, three boys and three girls, and 14 grandchildren, seven boys and seven girls. TechTopics | Spring 2009
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.