When she thinks of her dear friend Liviu Librescu, Jo Anne Meirovitch will remember his elegant manners.

"He would kiss my hand as a greeting," she said. "He was very attentive. When you were with him, he would ask, 'Do you need this? Can I get you something?'

"We have very friendly manners in this country, but his manners were polished. I don't think most of us are that careful with our manners. He was old-fashioned, Eastern European."

Librescu, 76, of Romania, was that and more.

On Monday, he was a hero and a victim.

When Cho Seung-Hui walked through Norris Hall on a deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, he came to the classroom where Librescu was conducting a class in solid mechanics.

"When the shooting started, he looked concerned, but he never panicked," said Richard Mallalieu, a student in the class in Room 204. "When I went out the window, he was guarding the door."

Librescu was shot and killed saving the lives of his students.

"He was a gentleman and a scholar," said Dr. Leonard Meirovitch, husband of Jo Anne and a retired member of the engineering science and mechanics department. "He was very dedicated to his job and was always willing to do his part."

Librescu, known as an extremely private man, was recognized around the world as an expert in aeroelasticity and composite structures.

Meirovitch and Librescu had been friends since they met in Israel in the early 1980s. They had been colleagues at Virginia Tech since 1985.

Librescu's son Joe told The Associated Press in Israel that during World War II, his father was interned in a labor camp. He survived that, only to live under the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania.

Collaboration with engineers and scientists outside of Romania was not permitted under Ceausescu, a restriction under which Librescu chafed.

When Librescu requested permission to immigrate to Israel, he was fired and told he could not leave the country for a year because he had knowledge the government considered top secret.

Eventually, he and his family were permitted to immigrate to Israel. Then, he met the Meirovitches, who encouraged Librescu and his family to come to Virginia Tech on a sabbatical.

Liviu Librescu decided Blacksburg would become his home.

"I told him he would have a much better future professionally in the United States," Meirovitch said. "It did not cross my mind that he would be the subject of a tragedy."