On April 16, 2007, Liviu Librescu, a Romanian–American scientist and engineer at Virginia Tech University and a survivor of the Holocaust, sacrificed his life defending his students from an attacker he prevented from entering his classroom?

Professor Liviu Librescu (1930- 2007) was shot through the classroom door that he had blocked to protect his students and give them time to escape.

Professor Librescu was a prominent academic. His major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics.

Liviu Librescu was posthumously awarded, by the President of Romania, with the Order of the Star of Romania in high appreciation and gratitude for all scientific and academic work and for the heroism shown during the tragic events at Virginia Tech University.