MY ESTEEMED FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE PROFESSOR LIVIU LIBRESCU (1930-2007)

摘要

I had the distinct honor and privilege to be a friend and colleague of Professor Liviu Librescu. I met him first in 1983, when I was invited by him to participate in the 17th Israel Convention on Mechanical Engineering, July 12-14, 1983 at Tel Aviv University, Israel. In 1985 I invited Professor Librescu to Virginia Tech as a visiting professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics. Subsequent to the visit he was appointed as a tenured professor at Virginia Tech till his death on the Virginia Tech campus on April 16, 2007, while saving the students in his class from being killed. From 1985 until 1992, when I left Virginia Tech for Texas A&M, we collaborated on research, publishing several journal papers, and I had many occasions to socially meet with him and his wife Marilena at our homes. Despite the strong convictions he has had about life and technical matters, he was one of the kindest people with a kind demeanor whom I have met in my life.