Liviu Librescu

Who was Liviu Librescu?

Liviu Librescu was a Romanian-born Israeli scientist and engineer. He was a professor whose major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics. A prominent academic in addition to being a survivor of the Holocaust, he is most widely known for his actions during the Virginia Tech massacre, in which he held off the gunman, giving all but one of his students enough time to escape through the windows. Shot and killed during the attack, Librescu was posthumously awarded the Order of the Star of Romania, Romania's highest civilian honor. At the time of his death, he was Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech.