Nuno Loureiro | |
|---|---|
 Loureiro teaching at MIT in 2023 | |
| Born | Nuno Filipe Gomes Loureiro 1977 Viseu, Portugal |
| Died | (aged 47) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Gunshot wounds |
| Education | Instituto Superior Técnico (BS,MEng) Imperial College London (PhD) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Presidential Early Career Award (2025) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Studies of nonlinear tearing mode reconnection (2005) |
| Website | nse |
Nuno Filipe Gomes Loureiro (1977 – 16 December 2025) was a Portugueseplasma physicist. He was theHerman Feshbach Professor of Physics at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and director of theMIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center from 2024 untilhis murder in 2025.
On 15 December 2025, Loureiro was shot at his residence inBrookline, Massachusetts, and died from his injuries the following day. Authorities have connected his murder to Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, who was the perpetrator of theshooting at Brown University that occurred two days prior to Loureiro's murder.
Nuno Filipe Gomes Loureiro[1] was born in 1977[2] inViseu, a city in central Portugal.[2][3][4][5] He graduated from Alves Martins Secondary School.[6] He studied physics at theInstituto Superior Técnico (IST) inLisbon, graduating in 2000 with an undergraduate and master's degree.[2] Loureiro attendedImperial College London and obtained a doctorate in physics in 2005, with a dissertation ontearing modes in plasma. His early research focused onmagnetohydrodynamics and astrophysical plasmas.[7]
After graduating, Loureiro joinedPrinceton University as apostdoctoral researcher at thePrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory in 2005. He left in 2007 to work at theCulham Centre for Fusion Energy, a laboratory under theUK Atomic Energy Authority, until 2009. He returned to Portugal as a researcher at theInstituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear at IST Lisbon for seven years.[8]
In 2016, Loureiro joined MIT as a professor and fusion scientist.[9] He studiedmagnetic reconnection and plasmaturbulence using computational simulations and published widely in scientific journals.[10] He became a full professor of physics in 2021 with a joint appointment in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. Loureiro was affiliated with the MIT Energy Initiative and theMIT Kavli Institute, and was a member of theAmerican Physical Society.[2][11]
In 2022, he became deputy director of theMIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, MIT's largest lab, and he was appointed full director in May 2024.[2] In January 2025, PresidentJoe Biden presented Loureiro with thePresidential Early Career Award, the highest U.S. government honor for young scientists.[12]
Loureiro was twice recognized with the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering PAI Outstanding Professor Award for teaching the courses "Intro to Plasma Physics" and "MHD Theory of Fusion Systems".[8]
Loureiro was shot in the foyer of the apartment building[13] where he lived inBrookline, Massachusetts, on the evening of 15 December 2025. He was transported toBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston with gunshot wounds, where he was pronounced dead early on 16 December. Authorities opened ahomicide investigation that received widespread publicity.[14][15][16]
Portugal's Minister of Foreign AffairsPaulo Rangel announced his death to theParliament of Portugal. The president of Portugal,Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, issued a statement calling his death "an irreplaceable loss for science",[17] and the U.S. ambassador to Portugal released a statement with condolences.[7][18] MIT presidentSally Kornbluth published a message to the MIT community, and professors from across the university made public remarks regarding Loureiro's life and work. A vigil was held by his home in Brookline.[19][20]
On 18 December, authorities announced that they were investigating a link between Loureiro's murder and theshooting at Brown University two days prior that killed two and injured nine.[21] Authorities confirmed the link later that day at a press conference announcing the suicide of the lone suspect in the Brown University shooting, Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, a Portuguese national.[22] The Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Lab confirmed that one of the firearms found with Valente matched the weapon used in Loureiro's murder.[23] Valente attended theInstituto Superior Técnico with Loureiro from 1995 to 2000, graduating first in his class, ahead of Loureiro.[24] Later that same day, authorities found Valente dead of a self-inflicted gunshot inside a storage unit inNew Hampshire.[25]
Loureiro was married and had three children.[26][27] He was an avid participant in local pick-up soccer games.[28]
Media related toNuno Loureiro at Wikimedia Commons