About Liviu Librescu
Liviu Librescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈlivju liˈbresku]; Hebrew: ליביו ליברסקו; August 18, 1930 – April 16, 2007) was a Romanian–Israeli-American scientist and engineer. A prominent academic in addition to being a survivor of the Holocaust, his major research fields were aeroelasticity and aerodynamics. Librescu is most widely known for his actions during the Virginia Tech shooting, when he held the doors to his lecture hall closed, allowing all but one of his students enough time to escape through the windows. Shot and killed during the attack, Librescu was posthumously awarded the Order of the Star of Romania, the country's highest civilian honor. Coincidentally, Librescu's act of heroism happened on Nisan 27 in the Jewish lunar calendar. That date is Yom HaShoah, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. At the time of his death, he was Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech. At age 76, Librescu was the oldest of the 32 people who were murdered in the Virginia Tech shooting. He was awarded a Ph.D. in fluid mechanics in 1969 at the Academia de Științe din România.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.