The Holocaust survivor who saved a classroom

Student witnesses say Prof. Liviu Librescu saved their lives during Cho Seung-Hui's deadly rampage at Virginia Tech.

from the April 20, 2007 edition

Page 3 of 4

Page 1 | Page 2 | 3 | Page 4

His expertise was noticed by scientists at Israel's Technion Institute and Israel Aircraft Industries, who pressed then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to appeal to Ceausescu to approve the family's exit, which was ultimately granted in 1978.

In Israel, he joined the faculty of Tel Aviv University, but it was on a sabbatical in Virginia where he and his wife discovered the community where he would thrive academically.

At Virginia Tech, there was plentiful funding from government and companies to pursue his aeroscience research –and he was exposed to students from all over the world who he took under his wing.

Colleagues' shock

When Yaakov Aboudi heard about the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, he immediately thought of his old friend and colleague, Professor Librescu. The men had known each other for more than 25 years, and Mr. Aboudi had once taught, while on sabbatical, in the very same Virginia Tech classroom as his friend.

But he knew what hours Librescu liked to teach class, so he decided he shouldn't worry too much.

"I immediate sent him an e-mail and said, 'I know you usually come in at noon, so I assume everything is okay with you.' "

He never received an answer.

"I know that classroom, and I know he could have jumped from the window to the grass. But I guess it's just an instinct: He decided to protect his students, which is what a professor should do," says Aboudi, an engineering professor.

Doron Shalev remembers him as a dedicated academic who would regularly burn the midnight oil. Dr. Shalev is an Israeli scientist who did his PhD at Virginia Tech under Librescu, and authored several papers with him.

1 | 2 | Page 3 | 4 | Next Page