G.V. Loganathan

• Professor of civil and environmental engineering, Virginia Tech.
• Age: 53.
• Education: bachelor's, Madras University; master's, Indian Institute of Technology; doctorate, Purdue University.
• Family: wife, Usha; two daughters.
• Residence: Blacksburg.

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G.V. Loganathan was so devoted to his engineering students at Virginia Tech that he sometimes pulled all-nighters with them.

Students and Virginia Tech graduates alike recalled the Indian-born professor as approachable, humble and kind — and always willing to talk over an engineering problem, no matter what time of day.

"There were many nights when we’d stay up all night together so he could give me guidance with reports or papers for conference," said Craig Moore, a Virginia Tech doctoral student who was one of Loganathan’s advisees and friends.

"He was so devoted to his students, he would teach a full load throughout the regular year and then during the summer too," Moore added.

"He was the most natural teacher — always able to relate things in a way that students could understand."

According to the Washington Post, Loganathan was born in the southern Indian city of Chennai and had been a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech since 1982.

Loganathan had served on the faculty senate and was an adviser to about 75 undergraduate students, the Post reported.

"We all feel like we have had an electric shock, we do not know what to do," his brother G.V. Palanivel told the NDTV news channel from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. "He has been a driving force for all of us, the guiding force."

Ryan Fedak, a Roanoke engineer and former student, said Loganathan always taught "with a smile on his face."

"He’s very humble and didn’t want people fumbling over his last name, so he asked us to call him ‘Dr. L,’ " Fedak added.

Loganathan was shot while teaching an advanced hydrology class.

A native of India, Loganathan won several teaching awards, including the university’s 2006 W.E. Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as a best-professor award voted on by students.

He’s survived by his wife, Usha, and two daughters, Uma, an engineering student at The University of Virginia and another daughter who is a student at Blacksburg Middle School.

The family declined to be interviewed.

— Beth Macy