Gang Lu
Encyclopedia
The University of Iowa shooting was a school shooting that occurred at the University of Iowa
in Iowa City, Iowa
on November 1, 1991. The gunman, 28-year-old Gang Lu, killed four members of the university faculty and one student. He also seriously wounded another student before he committed suicide.
The perpetrator of the shooting was 28-year-old Gang Lu (family name
Lu; Chinese: 卢刚 Lú Gāng), a former graduate student at the University of Iowa
. Gang Lu was a physics and astronomy student who had received his doctoral degree from the university in May of 1991. His dissertation was titled Study of the "Critical Ionization Velocity" Effect by Particle-in-Cell Simulation. He was still living in Iowa City after he had graduated.
In the months prior to the shooting, he wrote five letters explaining the reasons for his planned actions. According to university officials, four of the letters were in English
and were intended to be mailed to news organizations. One letter was written in Chinese
. The letters have never been released to the public.
Lu was infuriated because his dissertation did not receive the prestigious D.C. Spriestersbach Dissertation Prize. This prize included a monetary award of $2,500. Gang Lu believed that winning the prize would have made it easier for him to get hired as a professor.
Lu was unable to find work because of the recession. Normally, in this instance, the physics and astronomy department would have given Lu a temporary postdoctoral fellowship. Unfortunately, there was not enough money to support him.
Christoph K. Goertz, professor of physics and astronomy, was Lu's dissertation chairperson and one of America's leading space plasma physicists. Dwight R. Nicholson, chairman of the physics and astronomy department, was one of Lu's dissertation committee members. Robert A. Smith, associate professor of physics and astronomy, was also on Lu's dissertation committee. Linhua Shan, research investigator in physics and astronomy, was the winner of the Spriestersbach prize. Shan had once been Lu's roommate.
After the shootings at Van Allen Hall, Lu walked three blocks to Jessup Hall. Lu requested to see T. Anne Cleary, the associate vice president for academic affairs. She was the grievance officer at the university. Lu had made several complaints to her about not being nominated for the Spriestersbach prize. Cleary was shot in the head and died the following day at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
. Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, a temporary student employee in the grievance office, was shot for reasons unknown. Rodolfo-Sioson survived but was left paralyzed from the neck down. She passed away from breast cancer in 2008
University President Hunter Rawlings III was another person on Lu's hit list but was in Columbus, Ohio at the time. Gang Lu was found in room 203 of Jessup Hall with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He died shortly after police arrived.
The following day, November 2, the University of Iowa Hawkeyes Football
team, coached by Hayden Fry
, would honor those that were killed by stripping their game helmets of all markings in a symbolic gesture of mourning. The Hawkeyes would go on to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes
16-9.
wrote an acclaimed personal essay based in part on the killings. Her essay entitled, "The Fourth State of Matter," was originally published in The New Yorker
. It appeared in the 1997 edition of Best American Essays. The essay was later included in her collection of personal essays, The Boys of My Youth. Beard worked as an editor for a physics journal at the university and was a colleague of the victims. She had been close friends with Goertz.
Based on Gang Lu's story, Chinese director Chen Shi-zheng
made a feature film, Dark Matter
, starring Liu Ye and Meryl Streep
. The film won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize
at the Sundance Film Festival
in 2007.
A documentary about the life of the lone survivor, Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, entitled Miya of the Quiet Strength, was released in 2009.
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
on November 1, 1991. The gunman, 28-year-old Gang Lu, killed four members of the university faculty and one student. He also seriously wounded another student before he committed suicide.
Perpetrator and motives
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
Lu; Chinese: 卢刚 Lú Gāng), a former graduate student at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. Gang Lu was a physics and astronomy student who had received his doctoral degree from the university in May of 1991. His dissertation was titled Study of the "Critical Ionization Velocity" Effect by Particle-in-Cell Simulation. He was still living in Iowa City after he had graduated.
In the months prior to the shooting, he wrote five letters explaining the reasons for his planned actions. According to university officials, four of the letters were in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and were intended to be mailed to news organizations. One letter was written in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
. The letters have never been released to the public.
Lu was infuriated because his dissertation did not receive the prestigious D.C. Spriestersbach Dissertation Prize. This prize included a monetary award of $2,500. Gang Lu believed that winning the prize would have made it easier for him to get hired as a professor.
Lu was unable to find work because of the recession. Normally, in this instance, the physics and astronomy department would have given Lu a temporary postdoctoral fellowship. Unfortunately, there was not enough money to support him.
The shooting
On Friday, November 1, 1991, Gang Lu attended a physics and astronomy department meeting in room 208 of Van Allen Hall. A few minutes after the meeting began, Lu shot four members of the department with a .38 caliber revolver.Christoph K. Goertz, professor of physics and astronomy, was Lu's dissertation chairperson and one of America's leading space plasma physicists. Dwight R. Nicholson, chairman of the physics and astronomy department, was one of Lu's dissertation committee members. Robert A. Smith, associate professor of physics and astronomy, was also on Lu's dissertation committee. Linhua Shan, research investigator in physics and astronomy, was the winner of the Spriestersbach prize. Shan had once been Lu's roommate.
After the shootings at Van Allen Hall, Lu walked three blocks to Jessup Hall. Lu requested to see T. Anne Cleary, the associate vice president for academic affairs. She was the grievance officer at the university. Lu had made several complaints to her about not being nominated for the Spriestersbach prize. Cleary was shot in the head and died the following day at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is a 762-bed public teaching hospital and level 1 trauma center affiliated with the University of Iowa. UIHC is part of University of Iowa Health Care, a partnership that includes the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A...
. Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, a temporary student employee in the grievance office, was shot for reasons unknown. Rodolfo-Sioson survived but was left paralyzed from the neck down. She passed away from breast cancer in 2008
University President Hunter Rawlings III was another person on Lu's hit list but was in Columbus, Ohio at the time. Gang Lu was found in room 203 of Jessup Hall with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He died shortly after police arrived.
The following day, November 2, the University of Iowa Hawkeyes Football
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
team, coached by Hayden Fry
Hayden Fry
John Hayden Fry is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Southern Methodist University , North Texas State University, now the University of North Texas , and the University of Iowa , compiling a career college football record of 232–178–10...
, would honor those that were killed by stripping their game helmets of all markings in a symbolic gesture of mourning. The Hawkeyes would go on to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
16-9.
Popular culture
Writer Jo Ann BeardJo Ann Beard
-Life:Beard graduated from the University of Iowa with a BFA and MA.She teaches at Sarah Lawrence College.She worked as an editor for a physics journal at the University of Iowa and was a colleague of the victims of the University of Iowa shooting, which became a subject for her work.Her writing...
wrote an acclaimed personal essay based in part on the killings. Her essay entitled, "The Fourth State of Matter," was originally published in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. It appeared in the 1997 edition of Best American Essays. The essay was later included in her collection of personal essays, The Boys of My Youth. Beard worked as an editor for a physics journal at the university and was a colleague of the victims. She had been close friends with Goertz.
Based on Gang Lu's story, Chinese director Chen Shi-zheng
Chen Shi-zheng
Chen Shi-Zheng 陳士爭 born in 1963 in Changsha, Hunan, China) is a New York-based theater director.Having earned a BA from the Hunan Art School in Traditional Opera, he received his MA from the Tisch School of Art at New York University...
made a feature film, Dark Matter
Dark Matter (film)
Dark Matter is the first feature film by opera director Chen Shi-zheng, starring Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn and Meryl Streep. It won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival....
, starring Liu Ye and Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
. The film won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize
Alfred P. Sloan Prize
The Alfred P. Sloan Prize is an award given each year, starting in 2003, to a film at the Sundance Film Festival. The prize is given to a feature film that focuses on science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.Each winner is presented...
at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2007.
A documentary about the life of the lone survivor, Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, entitled Miya of the Quiet Strength, was released in 2009.