Tribute to a Gunman's Victims

MEMORIALS

V VIRGINIA TECH plans to erect a permanent memorial to the 32 students, faculty and staff slain last April 16, when a mentally ill student, armed with two handguns, went on a campus shooting rampage. Among those killed were three engineering professors.

LIVIU LIBRESCU, 76, was a highly regarded aeronautical engineer who joined the VA Tech faculty in 1985. A Holocaust survivor, Librescu spent his childhood in a Jewish ghetto in Romania. He received his Ph.D. at Romania's Academy of Science and immigrated in 1978 to Israel, where he spent seven years at Tel Aviv University. Librescu died a hero: He was shot while blocking the door to his classroom so students could escape through windows. He is survived by his wife, Marlena, and sons Joseph and Arieh.

G.V. LOGANATHAN, 53, was a respected civil engineer, an expert in hydrology and water-resources systems, and a much-praised educator (he had received several teaching awards). Born in India, he earned his doctorate at Purdue University. Loganathan had been at Virginia Tech since 1981. He is survived by his wife, Usha, and daughters Urna and Abhi.

Biomechanical engineer KEVIN GRANATA, 45, was considered a leading expert in movement dynamics in cerebral palsy. He joined VA Tech in 2003 and established and co-directed the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory. A Toledo, Ohio, native, Granata earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Ohio State University. He is survived by his wife, Linda, and children Eric, Alex and Ellen. All three men were showered with tributes from colleagues and students, both current and past.-TG

Copyright AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION Sep 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved