John Durstine personal archives
Collection
Identifier: MS500
Appraisal completed by Georgia Tech Foundation.
This collection is open.
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4.75 Linear Feet (2 letter manuscript cartons, 2 legal manuscript cartons, 1 4"x4" artifact box, 1 5" x 7" artifact box)
This collection contains materials documenting John Durstine's family history, genealogy and military service. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs of Durstine's immediate family as well as family dating back to the 19th century. Durstine's sister Joan applied for membership in Children of the American Revolution, prompting much of the family's documentation of ancestry including the Mayflower.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, John W. Durstine attended Georgia Tech in the 1950s as a mechanical engineering major. After graduation, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and joined the Ford Motor Company, where he spent more than three decades shaping truck and light vehicle design, powertrain strategy, and advanced systems engineering. Durstine was inducted into the school’s College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 2014.
Durstine passed away February 2025. In September 2025, it was announced that Durstine donated $100 million to the Institute’s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. It is the largest single gift in Tech’s history as of 2025.
Appraisal completed by Georgia Tech Foundation.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository