ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 17, 1996 TAG: 9608190056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Lede
A man known to his former Virginia Tech colleagues as a tireless researcher and devoted teacher was one of three San Diego State professors shot and killed Thursday at a critique of a graduate student's thesis.
Police said Tech graduate and former researcher Chen Liang, 32, never made it out of his chair when the graduate student fired a barrage of at least 23 bullets at the faculty members.
Police said Frederick Martin Davidson didn't wait to hear the professors criticize his thesis. As soon as Liang introduced him, Davidson pulled out a 9mm handgun he had stashed hours earlier in a first-aid kit on the wall and opened fire, police said.
Preston Lowrey III, 44, who was to become chairman of the mechanical engineering department next week, survived the initial volley but was shot again as he tried to make it to the door, police said. A third professor, 36-year-old Constantinos Lyrintzis, fled to an adjoining office but was shot while hiding behind a desk.
Three students who had come to hear Davidson's presentation escaped unharmed.
Davidson, 36, was arrested by police in the hall outside the classroom and jailed for investigation of murder.
"He was upset that his thesis had been turned down previously and thought the professors were out to get him," police Lt. Jim Collins said.
Davidson and Liang, his faculty adviser, had received a grant from the McDonnell Douglas Corp. to research "shape memory alloy," a metal that can be twisted and will hold its shape until heated.
Davidson's landlord, Howard Brashers, recalled a complaint by Davidson that is often heard from graduate students: "He did sometimes think Dr. Liang was using him as slave labor, not giving him as much credit as he deserved."
Brashers said his tenant had few visitors to his 11-by-12-foot room, kept his door locked and was a "neatnik."
Liang's friends and former colleagues at Virginia Tech remembered Liang for his unflagging work ethic and dedication to his students.
"All he wanted to do was good work," said Beth Howell, the program manager at Tech's Center for Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. "He wanted to make a contribution to science."
Liang worked closely with Howell and Craig Rogers, who was then center director, for about five years.
"He was my first Ph.D. student," recalled Rogers, who left Tech on Thursday to become dean of the Engineering College at the University of South Carolina. "He was an internationally renowned researcher."
Rogers and Liang studied "smart" materials - materials that contain a variety of components and capabilities that make them adaptable in various circumstances.
Some of Liang's research has been used in the development of airplane wings and helicopter rotors that could "change their shape like a bird's wings," Rogers said.
Liang was also a senior researcher at Rogers' Blacksburg firm, Paradigm Inc. Liang left Tech after he was offered a tenure-track position in California, which meant a chance for him to build his own research program.
"He was beyond his years as an assistant professor," Rogers said. "He was truly a gem for San Diego State University."
Howell said she had been asked about Liang's hobbies away from work, but she couldn't think of many. He spent much of his time working and his spare time with his family.
When he could get away from the lab, Liang enjoyed fishing and ballroom dancing, according to colleague Fanping Sun.
"Because of his workload, I don't think he spent much time dancing, though," he said.
The center once gave him a classical guitar after Liang finished a project for DuPont. Liang was a talented guitarist, Rogers said.
"We were always hoping he'd spend a little more time on his leisurely activities."
But, rather than take time out for himself, Liang preferred helping students, say many who knew him. He usually could be found in his office or in the lab - always working side by side with the students.
"He was a friend and colleague to all of them," Rogers said. "It was simply a part of who he was."
Tech graduate student Fred Lalande knew firsthand what it meant to work with Liang.
"I was never afraid to go in his office, because I knew he was always available," Lalande said. "He would make sure that you got it."
Sun, a researcher at the Center for Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, was still in shock Friday night. In losing Liang, he lost a compatriot, a scholarly peer and a best friend.
"I can't believe this happened," Sun said. "He was one of the best men I've ever met."
The two hit it off in 1987 when they came from China to the United States to pursue graduate degrees in mechanical engineering at Tech.
Sun returned to China after getting his master's degree but returned to Tech in 1991 to work toward his doctorate. He and Liang wrote many papers together while at the center.
Sun visited Liang's lab at San Diego State while in town for a conference in February. He thinks he met Davidson, the student accused of shooting Liang and his colleagues.
"He appeared to me quite normal," Sun said. "He did not appear strange."
Liang is survived by his wife, Bai Hong, a chemist, and their two sons, Jesse, 4, and George, 18 months.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. File 1992. Virginia Tech graduate and formerby CNBresearcher Chen Liang was one of three San Diego State professors
killed Thursday.. 2. AP. (headshot) Davidson. 3. Students hug at a
meeting held Friday at San Diego State University to discuss the
shooting deaths of three professors. color. Graphic: Map by AP.
color. KEYWORDS: FATALITY