We are not worthy

Thank you, Sherman, for pointing to this tribute and linking to the Virgina Tech engineering college biography for Prof. Liviu Librescu.


Words can't describe my respect for Prof. Librescu. Here is a man who has seen the worst the world can offer, as a survivor of the holocaust, and paid it back by being an expert in an extremely challenging field. [Non-linear dynamics, particularly of supersonic fluids, is about as nasty as it gets ... let alone in unsteady flow with magnetohydrodynamic effects.] His record of research, teaching, and service is spectacular. He was still going strong at the age of 76, but he apparently did not think twice about sacrificing himself to block the door to his classroom when his students came under attack on April 16. Like Sherman Dorn said, Damn.

If students ever wonder how their professors feel about them, they need look no further than how this man gave his life keeping the gunman out of his classroom.