Liviu Librescu , Hebrew : ליביו ליברסקו ( Ploiesti ( Romania ), April 18 1930 - Blacksburg (Virginia) ( U.S. ), April 16 2007 ) was an Israeli scientist of Romanian origin. He was one of the victims of the shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , where he worked as a professor of mechanical engineering .
Lifespan [ edit ][]
Librescu grew up in a Jewish family in Ploieşti. During the Second World War, was his father, a lawyer, imprisoned in a labor camp. He himself lived in the ghetto of Focşani .
He studied aeronautical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and graduated in 1952 . In 1969 he received his PhD in fluid dynamics . Librescu worked as a researcher at several Romanian institutes. He wanted to emigrate to Israel ( alia making), but Jews were there under the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu rarely permission. Only after a direct request from Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin Librescu was in 1978 to emigrate.
He worked from 1979 to 1986 as a professor at Tel Aviv University and the Technion in Haifa . His main research areas were aerolasticiteit and aerodynamics .
From 1985 until his death Librescu was Professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. He sat on the editorial boards of seven scientific journals and according to his widow, he wrote the highest number of articles of all professors at his university.
Death [ edit ][]
On April 16, 2007 Professor Librescu was one of the thirty-two people were killed during the shootings at Virginia Tech. He was slain during a lesson in Norris Hall Engineering Building, the student Cho Seung-hui . Librescu barricaded the classroom door so his students could escape. Using windows He was slain by the gunman shot through the door.
Some of his students later called him a hero who saved their lives. Librescu was slain on Yom Hasjoa , the Holocaust Remembrance Day . He left a wife and two kids.
U.S. President George W. Bush expressed two days after the massacre honor Librescu:
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That day we saw horrors, but we also saw quiet acts of courage. We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. When the gunman tried to enter his classroom, he blocked the door with his body while his students fled. On Remembrance Day gave this Holocaust survivor's life for that of others. And today we honor his memory and draw strength from his example. |
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Librescu was posthumously by Romanian President Traian Băsescu awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania . A memorial service for him was held in Brooklyn on April 18. Two days later he was buried in Israel.