Born in a Jewish family Romania in 1930, Liviu Librescu was interned as a boy in a concentration labor camp in by Nazis. He survived the holocaust to return to Communist Romania, where he earned masters and doctorate degrees in engineering and mechanics. In the 70’s, Librescu’s refused to swear allegiance to the Romanian Communist Party and to condemn Israel. He was subsequently forced out of academia and after a long struggle immigrated to Israel. In his 70’s he was invited to lecture at Virginia Tech. A prominent scholar, he served on the boards of 7 main stream research journals.
On April 16, 2007, Librescu, 76 years old, was teaching a mechanics class at Virginia Tech as Seung-Hui Cho rampaged through the campus killing everyone in sight (he killed 32 people and wounded many others). Librescu, on hearing the shooting, ordered his students out through the windows while he held the door of his classroom shut. Cho fired through the door, striking Librescu five times, ending his life. Of the 23 students in his class, 22 escaped without injury. Coincidentally, April 16 is National Holocaust Day. Lord, may each of us, in our hour of need, demonstrate the love and courage of Professor Librescu. RIP
No comments:
Post a Comment