Henry Rudolph "Peter" Pund

Born in Augusta, January 27, 1907, to Charles Theodore and Mary Pund, Henry Rudolph “Pete” Pund attended the Public Schools in Augusta and graduated from the Academy of Richmond County in 1925. In his Junior Year, he served on the ARC Yearbook Staff and was the President of his Class. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he became an outstanding center for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football Team. In 1928, he was the Captain of the team and nicknamed “Golden Tornado.” Thanks in part to Pund’s ability, the Georgia Tech team went 9-0, including defeating Famed Coach, Knute Rockne’s, Notre Dame team 13-0. Rockne recognized his talent: “I sat at Grant Field and saw a magnificent Notre Dame team suddenly recoil before the furious pounding of one man—Pund, Center. . Nobody could stop him.” The team defeated California to win the Rose Bowl, capping a perfect year. In 1928, he became a Consensus All-American. He was named to the All-1920s football team. At Tech, he was inducted into the Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society and served as President of the YMCA of Georgia Tech.

 

After graduating from Tech with a degree in engineering, he married Susan C. Broyles, and they had two children, Susan and Peter. After some time with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, he began working for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, where he remained an executive until his retirement.

 

In 1946, the company transferred Peter to the New York Office of the shipbuilding division and he became a Corporate Officer. His family lived in nearby Darien, Connecticut, where he was active in community affairs. He died at 80 years of age, in September 1987.

 

He was recognized as a Football Superstar for the rest of his life, being inducted in 1959 into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame.  In 1963, he joined a host of other superstars in the National Football Hall of Fame, and in 1977 was awarded membership in the Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame.