AP: Two professors among shooting victims

WSLS NewsChannel 10
Published: April 16, 2007

The Associated Press is reporting that two Virginia Tech professors were among the 30 killed in the shooting Monday at Norris Hall by a gunman who later killed himself.

The AP quotes Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department, saying professors Liviu Librescu and Kevin Granata were killed.

Librescu was born in Romania and was known internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, Puri wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"His research has enabled better aircraft, superior composite materials, and more robust aerospace structures," Puri said.

Granata served in the military and later conducted orthopedic research in hospitals before coming to Virginia Tech, where he and his students researched muscle and reflex response and robotics.

Puri called him one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy.