MIT Nuclear Science Professor Nuno Loureiro Killed After Shooting At His Home

Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, a 47-year-old professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has died. He was shot inside his Massachusetts home on Monday (Dec 15) and succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds on Tuesday night (Dec 16).

The Norfolk District Attorney's (DA) Office said police responded to reports of a man shot around 8:30 pm local time. Loureiro was subsequently rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead hours later.

"This is an active and ongoing homicide investigation. No further information is being released at this time," the DA informed.

Brookline Police Deputy Superintendent Paul Campbell confirmed Loureiro had been shot multiple times but refrained from providing additional information.

"Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving," an MIT spokesperson was quoted as saying by the BBC.

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Trailblazing Scientist

The Portuguese professor was a member of MIT's departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Physics, having joined the school in 2016. He was well known for his award-winning research in magnetised plasma dynamics and was named the director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Centre in 2024.

"Nuno was not only a brilliant scientist, he was a brilliant person. He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner," said Dennis Whyte, the previous director of the Plasma Science Centre.

"His loss is immeasurable to our community at the PSFC, NSE and MIT, and around the entire fusion and plasma research world."

He majored in physics at Instituto Superior Tecnico (IST) in Lisbon in 2000 and obtained a PhD in physics at Imperial College London in 2005, according to his faculty web page. Apart from his work regarding plasma, Loureiro also excelled in astrophysics, helping reveal fundamental mechanisms of the universe.

He was the first scientist to push the theory of turbulence in pair plasmas, which differ from regular plasmas and may be abundant in space. He also studied how to harness clean "fusion power" to combat climate change.