Liviu Librescu

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Liviu Librescu
Gunshot wounds
CitizenshipIsrael
United States[citation needed]
Romania
Alma materPolitehnica University of Bucharest
Known forResearch in aeroelasticity and aerodynamics
Scientific career
FieldsEngineering
InstitutionsVirginia Tech
Tel Aviv University
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology[1][2]

Liviu Librescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈlivju liˈbresku]; Hebrew: ליביו ליברסקו; August 18, 1930 – April 16, 2007) was a Romanian–American scientist and engineer. A prominent academic in addition to being a survivor of the Holocaust, his major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics.

Librescu is most widely known for his actions during the

Holocaust Remembrance Day
in Israel.

At the time of his death, he was

Virginia Tech.[4]

Life and career

Liviu Librescu was born in 1930 to a

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. When he was little, he was very curious and knew everything, so that I thought he would become very conceited, but it did not happen so; he was of a rare modesty."[6]

After surviving the Holocaust, Librescu was repatriated to

Polytechnic University of Bucharest, graduating in 1952 and continuing with a Master's degree at the same university. He was awarded a Ph.D. in fluid mechanics in 1969 at the Academia de Științe din România.[7] From 1953 to 1975, he worked as a researcher at the Bucharest
Institute of Applied Mechanics, and later at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerospace Constructions of the Academy of Science of Romania.

His career stalled in the 1970s because he refused to swear allegiance to Nicolae Ceaușescu's government.[5] When Librescu requested permission to emigrate to Israel, the Academy of Science of Romania fired him.[5] In 1976, a smuggled research manuscript that he had published in the Netherlands drew him international attention in the growing field of material dynamics.[8]

After months on end government refusal,

Nicolae Ceaușescu to let them go.[5] They moved to Israel in 1978.[9]

From 1979 to 1986, Librescu was Professor of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering at

Virginia Tech in its Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, where he remained until his death.[9][10] He served as a member on the editorial board of seven scientific journals and was invited as a guest editor of special issues of five other journals.[11] Most recently, he was co-chair of the International Organizing Committee of the 7th International Congress on Thermal Stress, Taipei, Taiwan, June 4–7, 2007, for which he had been scheduled to give the keynote lecture.[4][11] According to his wife, no Virginia Tech professor has ever published more articles than Librescu.[9]

Part of a series of articles
on the
Virginia Tech
shooting
A photo of one of the commemorative stones at the memorial with flowers laid on top of it.
Location
Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia)
Perpetrator
Seung-Hui Cho
Victims
Related


Fields of research

Librescu's major fields of study included:[11]

  • Foundation and applications of the modern theory of shells incorporating non-classical effects and composed of advanced composite materials
  • Foundation of the theory and applications of
    sandwich type structures
  • Aeroelastic stability of flight vehicle structures
  • Nonlinear
    hypersonic
    flow fields
  • Aeroelastic and structural tailoring
  • Dynamic response and instability of
    laminated composite structures
    subjected to deterministic and random loading systems
  • Mechanical and thermal postbuckling of flat and curved shear-deformable elastic panels
  • Static, dynamic and aeroelastic feedback control of adaptive structures
  • Unsteady aerodynamics and magnetoaerodynamics of supersonic flows with applications
  • Optimization problems of aeroelastic structural systems
  • Theory of composite thin-walled beams and its application in aeronautical and mechanical constructions
  • Nonlinear structural
    composite materials
    under shear stress
  • Response and behavior of structures to underwater and in-air explosions
  • Multifunctional and functionally graded material structures.

Death and legacy

Librescu's memorial stone on the Virginia Tech campus

At age 76,

Mumbai, India, was the only student in the room who lost her life, while two others, who were injured while taking cover in a corner, made it out alive.[16]
It was then noted that after the armed aggressor forced his way inside the room, he was enraged after the majority of students escaped. 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.

A number of Librescu's students have called him a hero because of his actions. Caroline Merrey, a senior, said she and about 20 other students scrambled through the windows as Librescu shouted for them to hurry.[15] Merrey said, "I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for [Librescu]."[17] Librescu's son Joe said he had received e-mails from several students who said he had saved their lives and regarded him as a hero.[9]

Following the murder of Librescu, at the request of his family and with the assistance of Gov.

Polytechnic University of Bucharest, and a candle was lit. People laid flowers nearby.[5]

The massacre took place on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah). On April 18, 2007, President of the United States George W. Bush honored Librescu at a memorial service held at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, attended by a crowd that included many Holocaust survivors:[22]

That day we saw horror, but we also saw quiet acts of courage. We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others may live. And this morning we honor his memory and we take strength from his example.

Honors and awards

Librescu received many academic honors during his work in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech, serving as chair or invited as a keynote speaker of several International Congresses on Thermal Stresses and receiving several honorary degrees. He was elected member of the Academy of Sciences of the Shipbuilding of Ukraine (2000) and Foreign Fellow of the Academy of Engineering of Armenia (1999). 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). He was a member of the Board of Experts of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Scientific Research. He was awarded the Frank J. Maher Award for Excellence in Engineering Education (2005)[23] and an ASME diploma (2005) expressing "deep appreciation for the valuable services in advancing the engineering profession".[11]

Posthumously, Professor Librescu was commended by

Hasidic Movement named its Jewish Student Center at Virginia Tech after him.[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. Jane B. Stark, who is Executive Director of the Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage in Woodbine, New Jersey, said "This man, who endured so much during the Holocaust, thought of his students’ safety before his own in a time of crisis. ... He deserves to be remembered for these heroic actions."[26]

The street in front of the

U.S. Embassy in Bucharest was named in his honor.[27]

Professor Librescu was also awarded the 2007 Facilitator Award by Stetson University College of Law's Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy.

A gift to Columbia Law School from alumnus Ira Greenstein '85 honored Professor Librescu's heroism during the Virginia Tech shooting and established a professorship in his name—the "Liviu Librescu Professor of Law." This professorship is awarded at the discretion of the Dean, who seeks to appoint to the Librescu Professorship a member of the faculty with an expertise in national security or social justice. Matthew Waxman currently holds the Librescu Professorship.[28] He is an expert in national security law and international law, including issues such as executive power, international human rights and constitutional rights, military force and armed conflict, terrorism, cybersecurity, and maritime disputes.

Publications

Books authored by Librescu include:[29]

  • Librescu, Liviu; Ohseop Song (2006). Thin-walled composite beams: Theory and Application.
    OCLC 62363828
    .
  • Cederbaum, G.; Elishakoff, I; Aboudi, J.; Librescu, L. (1992). Random Vibrations and Reliability of Composite Structures.
    Bibcode:1992tech.book.....C
    .
  • Librescu, Liviu (1976). Elastostatics and Kinetics of Anisotropic and Heterogeneous Shell-Type Structures.
    OCLC 2092328
    .
  • Librescu, Liviu (1969). Statica şi dinamica structurilor elastice anizotrope şi eterogene (in Romanian).
    OCLC 17866878
    .

See also

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References

  1. USA TODAY
    , April 17, 2007. Accessed February 20, 2008.
  2. New York Times
    April 17, 2007. Accessed February 20, 2008.
  3. ^ Holocaust Survivor, Professor Killed Helping Students Escape Archived 2007-04-18 at the Wayback Machine, Fox News, April 17, 2007. Accessed February 20, 2008.
  4. ^ a b Liviu Librescu's Curriculum Vitae Archived 2007-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Friedman, Matti. "Holocaust survivor killed in Va shooting", Associated Press, April 17, 2007. Accessed February 20, 2008.
  6. ^ (in Romanian) Claudia Ciobanu, Diana Lazar, Cosmin Popan, Iuliana Gatej. Eroul român de la Virginia Tech, Cotidianul, April 18, 2007
  7. ^ (in Romanian) "Profesorul-erou, inventator şi reputat om de ştiinţă" Archived 2007-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, in Evenimentul Zilei, April 17, 2007
  8. ^ Jeffrey Brainard and Matthew Kalman. "Profiles of the Slain: Liviu Librescu", The Chronicle of Higher Education. April 17, 2007. Accessed February 20, 2008.
  9. ^
    Ynetnews
    , April 17, 2007. Accessed February 20, 2008.
  10. ^ "Virginia Tech: In Memoriam: April 16th 2007" Archived 2007-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, Virginia Tech.
  11. ^ a b c d Liviu Librescu – Faculty profile Archived 2007-05-21 at the Wayback Machine at the Virginia Tech Department of Engineering and Mechanics website Archived 2006-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "Israeli lecturer died shielding Virginia Tech students from gunman" Archived 2009-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz, April 17, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  13. Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original
    on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  14. Washington Post
    , April 19, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  15. ^
    New York Times
    , April 19, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  16. ^ "The Victims", NY Times. April 18, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  17. ^ Hutkin, Erinn. "Liviu Librescu: Holocaust survivor blocked shooter, letting students flee" Archived 2013-01-04 at archive.today, The Roanoke Times, April 27, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  18. ^ Kessler, Aaron. "Professor's body laid to rest in Israel" Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Media General News Service, April 21, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  19. ^ Winograd, Ben. "Hero Virginia Tech Professor Buried", Associated Press, April 20, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  20. ^ Rettig, Havav. "Israeli who saved Virginia students buried as hero"[permanent dead link], The Jerusalem Post, April April 20–22, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  21. ^ Katz, Yaakov. "Hundreds attend service for Holocaust survivor, VT hero", USA Today, April 20, 2007. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  22. Yediot Aharonot
    (Ynet) April 18, 2007]. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  23. ^ http://www.esm.vt.edu Archived 2006-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ Press release of the Romanian President announcing Liviu Librescu's post-mortem commendation, Department for Public Communication, Office of the President of Romania.
  25. ^ Jewish Student Center Opens Doors at Virginia Tech
  26. ^ HRC Opening naming 2009 (press release)
  27. ^ Morrison, James. "Embassy Row." The Washington Times. Tuesday April 27, 2010. 2. Retrieved on November 27, 2010. "Romania has named the street in front of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest in honor of a Romanian-born professor and Holocaust survivor who gave up his life to save his students from a crazed gunman at Virginia Tech three years ago. ."
  28. ^ Matthew Waxman Bio, Columbia Law School Archived 2008-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ Publication list for Liviu Librescu Archived 2007-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Virginia Tech Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics Archived 2006-10-06 at the Wayback Machine website, accessed April 17, 2007. Note: All books referenced by this citation.

External links

News

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