Professor Whitney Wilson

My relationship with the various computerized systems at Texas Tech has not been an easy one. My struggle to get an email address lasted for months, and I managed to teach for an entire semester without my actually existing within the University's system - I began my first class by reassuring my students that even though they would find no record of me on campus, I really was their professor. I thought things had been sorted out, but a couple of weeks ago I tried to log into something called "Digital Measures", a system that faculty members are supposed to use to report on their professional activities. Not surprisingly, I couldn't log in, and thus began many days of confused emails to and from various IT people. I finally got an email saying that my account was ready, so I logged in, only to be greeted by a page welcoming "Professor Whitney Wilson". For the occasional reader who doesn't actually know my name, it is not Whitney Wilson. I sighed, and began another round of emails to correct my identity. When I mentioned this to a friend of mine from my Georgia Tech days, she suggested that I could take this opportunity to make Professor Whitney Wilson into a George P. Burdell figure.

Who is George P. Burdell, you ask?

Here's the story: In 1927, a student received two acceptance forms to attend Georgia Tech. He decided to enroll as two people: himself, and an imaginary person named George P. Burdell. Students who were in on the prank would complete assignments and sit exams on George's behalf, and he eventually received his degree. This has become an important part of Georgia Tech culture, such that GT folk can always find one another by, for example, paging George P. Burdell at an airport to see who shows up. Good fun.

Anyway, my friend and I started to fantasize about what sorts of things Prof. Whitney Wilson could accomplish in her time at Texas Tech. I am open to suggestions.