Kevin Granata

Kevin P. Granata (December 29, 1961 – April 16, 2007) was an American professor in multiple departments including the Departments of Engineering, Science and Mechanics (in which he was tenured) and Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), in Blacksburg, Virginia. Granata held an additional academic appointment as a professor in the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and was an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. During the Virginia Tech shooting, he shepherded students into his office in order to safeguard them. He was then killed by Seung-Hui Cho after he went to investigate and intervene.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Granata attended St. Francis de Sales High School in Toledo, where he played football and served on the debate team for four years, graduating in 1980 with a 4.0 GPA. Granata was awarded a bachelor's degree in engineering physics & electrical engineering from Ohio State University in 1984, a master's degree in physics from Purdue University in 1986, and a doctorate in biomechanics from Ohio State in 1993. He began his bachelor's degree in physics at John Carroll University in Cleveland, where he also played football, before transferring to Ohio State to finish the degree.

After earning his master's degree from Purdue, Granata worked for three years as a research scientist in the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins University. While there, he was contracted by the military and conducted research for the US Navy.

Granata stayed at Ohio State for four years as a research scientist in the Biodynamics Laboratory after earning his doctorate degree there in 1993.

In 1997, Granata arrived at the University of Virginia as an assistant professor in two departments, Orthopedics and Biomedical Engineering, where he published two journals and collaborated on a study with the Curry School of Education to determine why female athletes experience more knee injuries than their male counterparts. From 1997 to 2003, he also served as the Research Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Virginia. In 2002, he was promoted to the position of associate professor for the orthopedics and biomedical engineering departments. While at Virginia, he worked at the university's Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center with children who had cerebral palsy.

He remained an adjunct professor at Virginia after leaving for Virginia Tech in 2003.

Granata was among the leading U.S. researchers on biomechanics and movement dynamics in cerebral palsy, in his work with the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory at Virginia Tech. His research focused on muscle and reflex control and its relation to legged robotics, neuromuscular control of musculoskeletal movement, biomechanical stability and muscle dynamics, control of low-back pain, and computer simulation and clinical interpretation of pathologic walking and running. Professor Granata was recruited to the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics to continue his distinguished teaching and research. In particular, he developed innovative methods to quantify low back stability that are considered cutting edge by other leaders in the field. He served as mentor for numerous students and junior professors. When Granata was promoted to the rank of professor, one of these professors conveyed, "Countless times he has provided me with valuable guidance on research-related matters such as student advising, experimental issues, and manuscript preparation."

Darin Padua of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who earned his doctorate under Granata's tutelage at the University of Virginia, said that Granata particularly excelled at encouraging collaboration among experts in various fields, resulting in research that crossed many disciplines and areas of expertise.