Librescu: Virginia Tech Hero

Profile of the Immigrant That Saved Others That Day, Liviu Librescu

Apr 22, 2007

While much is being said about Cho Seung-Hui, a Korean immigrant, let us focus on someone who saved others that day, also an immigrant.

Bravery Confronts Hatred

Who was the man that blocked the door to his classroom after hearing gunfire which gave students time to safely escape certain death through classroom windows? It was Prof. Liviu Librescu, immigrant from Romania who had survived the Holocaust. He was no stranger to the threat of dying.

Librescu, The Man

As people tell the world who Librescu truly was, we see that he was not only a hero but it becomes evident that he had reached Maslow's highest level -- altruism. The highest level in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is Self-transcendence--to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential.

Communist Romania

Under the reign of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Librescu was a target for asking to move to Israel. He was the son of a lawyer who was deported to a labor camp when the Nazis occupied the southern Romanian town of Ploiesti. He watched as his father was taken away by the soldiers not knowing if they would ever see each other again. This forced him and his mother to relocate to Foscani. As a teenager, Librescu was extremely gifted in math and helped to support the family by tutoring other math students. After the war, the family was reunited and emigrated to Israel.

Librescu was observed and persecuted by secret police in Romania during the war. He had to become private and secretive to survive. He got a masters degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest in 1953 and a doctorate from the Institute of Fluid Mechanics of Romania's science academy. He found employment by the country's leading aerospace manufacturer.

Persecution

While successful in his academics and employment, Librescu was always being watched. He had two strikes against him:

He was not given promotions because of these two factors but refused to go against his conscience. In 1975 when he applied to move to Israel, he was fired from his job and forced to sell furniture to live. During this difficult time, he stood on principles and managed to write a book in secret and mailed portions to the Netherlands where it was later published. This was under the watchful eye of the Communist regime. He stood his ground in the face of evil. The family was eventually allowed to leave in 1978. [Josh Mitnick and Ilene R. Prusher, csmonitor.com, April 20, 2007]

Health Problems

Because Librescu was such a private man, few knew that a year ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He did not share this information with family, colleagues or students. He didn't want to bother anyone around him with his problems.

Virginia Tech

While on staff as faculty at Tel Aviv University, a sabbatical in Virginia in the 1980s led him and his wife to beautiful Blacksburg. He flourished academically at Virginia Tech. For some reason, the engineering building was the main target of the killer. But, because of Librescu's presence, not one engineering student was killed on that fateful day.

The copyright of the article Librescu: Virginia Tech Hero in Educational Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish Librescu: Virginia Tech Hero in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.