Albin Turbak, PhD Chem 57, returned to the Institute in 1982 to serve as director of the School of Polymers and Textile Engineering. Through some hard work, Turbak tracked down a sample of original 1800 Tech Gold fabric—the urtext of Georgia Tech’s official gold color.
Using computer matching, he had several hundred yards of wool/nylon fabric dyed to the exact shade. Most of the fabric went to a handful of Tech’s top administrators and donors, but Turbak held some back.
“Along the way I had one sport coat made for myself, and, in the hope that one day perhaps one of my grandchildren might consider going to Tech, I had a spare coat made,” Turbak said.
Thirty years later, in May 2012, his grandson Casimir Turbak earned a degree in business administration from Tech. To celebrate, Albin Turbak gave Casimir the spare jacket.
Anyone who wants a jacket of his or her own is out of luck, Turbak said. “Now that the Textile Engineering School has been demolished, there is no way to ever get another batch of original gold color fabric.”
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