Liviu Librescu
Librescu is most widely known for his actions during the Virginia Tech shooting, when he held the doors to his lecture hall closed, allowing all but one of his students enough time to escape through the windows.[5] His wife, Marlena, who is also a Holocaust survivor, told Israeli Channel 10 TV the day after his death, "We were in Romania during the Second World War, and we were Jews there among the Germans, and among the anti-Semitic Romanians."[5] Dorothea Weisbuch, a cousin of Librescu living in Romania, said in an interview to Romanian newspaper Cotidianul: "He was an extraordinarily gifted person and very altruistic.[8] After months on end government refusal, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin intervened to get the Librescu family an emigration permit by directly asking Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu to let them go.[9] In 1985, he left on sabbatical for the United States, where he served as Professor at Virginia Tech in its Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, where he remained until his death.Librescu, who taught a solid mechanics class in Room 204 in the Norris Hall during April 2007, held the door of his classroom shut while the gunman attempted to enter it and yelled to his students to escape through the windows.Before leaving the room, Cho confronted Professor Librescu and student Panchal who were lying on the ground next to the door and fatally shot them in the temple.He was a recipient of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest (2000), of the 1999 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, and a laureate of the Traian Vuia Prize of the Romanian Academy (1972).[11] Posthumously, Professor Librescu was commended by Traian Băsescu, the President of Romania, with the Order of the Star of Romania with the rank of Grand Cross, "as a sign of high appreciation and gratitude for the entire scientific and academic activity, as well as for the heroism shown in the course of the tragic events which took place on April 16th, 2007, [...] through which he saved the lives of his students, sacrificing his own life.[25] The classroom of the Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey was dedicated to the memory of Liviu Librescu in April 2009 through a donation from The Azeez Family and Foundation of Egg Harbor Township.
PloieștiKingdom of RomaniaBlacksburg, VirginiaGunshot woundsPolitehnica University of BucharestaeroelasticityaerodynamicsEngineeringVirginia TechTel Aviv UniversityTechnion – Israel Institute of TechnologyHebrewthe HolocaustVirginia Tech shootingOrder of the Star of RomaniaJewish lunar calendarYom HaShoahHolocaust Remembrance DayProfessorJewishRomaniaRomania allied with Nazi GermanyWorld War IIlabor campTransnistriaghettoFocșaniHolocaustIsraeli Channel 10anti-SemiticCotidianulCommunist Romaniaaerospace engineeringPolytechnic University of BucharestMaster's degreefluid mechanicsAcademia de Științe din RomâniaBucharestNicolae Ceaușescuemigrate to IsraelNetherlandsIsraeli Prime MinisterMenachem BeginRomanian PresidentTechnionsabbaticalTaipeiTaiwanVirginia TechshootingBlacksburgVirginiaSeung-Hui ChoJamie BishopJocelyne Couture-NowakKevin GranataG. V. LoganathanMedia coverageTimelinecomposite materialssandwich type structuressupersonichypersonicstructural tailoringelasticviscoelasticlaminated composite structurespostbucklingaeronauticaldeformationsolid mechanicsMumbai, IndiaTim KaineOrthodox JewishBorough Park, BrooklynNew YorkPresident of the United StatesGeorge W. BushUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHolocaust survivorsUkraineArmeniaDoctor Honoris CausaTraian VuiaRomanian AcademyTraian BăsescuPresident of RomaniaChabadHasidicU.S. Embassy in BucharestColumbia Law SchoolMatthew WaxmanDordrechtThe NetherlandsLancasterBibcodeLeydenHistory of the Jews in RomaniaRomanian AmericanIsraeli AmericanUSA TODAYNew York TimesWayback MachineFox NewsAssociated PressEvenimentul ZileiYnetnewsHaaretzBaltimore SunWashington Postarchive.todayThe Roanoke TimesYediot AharonotThe Washington TimesChabad on Campus FoundationNewsdayABC NewsJerusalem PostThe Times