William Klug, killed in UCLA shooting, remembered fondly by students, colleagues

A UCLA engineering professor is one of two people who died in Wednesday morning's shooting on the school's campus. Late Wednesday night, the L.A. County Coroner's Office confirmed that William Klug, 39, was shot in the attack on campus.

Klug, described in a UCLA obituary as "a beloved and committed scholar," taught in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. Klug is survived by his wife, Mary Elise, and their children, Timothy, 9, and Rosemary, 7, according to the obituary.

Klug earned his bachelor's degree from Westmont College, a Christian liberal arts college in Santa Barbara in 1998. He went on to earn a master's degree from UCLA in 1999 and a doctorate from Caltech in 2003. Mary Elise was a fellow graduate of both Westmont and UCLA. He lived in El Segundo.

At UCLA, Klug led his own research group, which focuses on theoretical and computational biomechanics. His work also focused on the mechanics of biological systems, such as cancer cells — the UCLA obituary said that he conducted "life-saving research." His previous work helped provided a clearer picture of the physics of cells and their organelles, which had applications to understanding the life cycle of viruses like HIV, according to the obituary.

Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Jeff Eldredge met Klug in 1999 while they were both doctoral students at Caltech, according to a statement from UCLA. They both became faculty at UCLA on the same day in 2003.

"Bill was one of the most talented, intelligent, and caring people I have ever known, and he made enormous contributions in the field of computational biomechanics," Klug's colleague Jeff Eldredge said in a statement. “While sharing a lab with him these past 13 years, I have watched him mentor a series of great research students. I had looked forward to us growing into old grouchy professors together, and I’m very sad to lose a dear friend and colleague and the many years of future collaboration and camaraderie that have vanished for no sensible reason. We have lost someone truly special. My thoughts are with his wife and children.”

"This is a terrible moment," said Tsu-Chin Tsau, chair of Klug's department, in the UCLA obituary. "We lost a professor who cared a lot about his students and who was on a very positive trajectory."

He was also appreciated by his students, with his UCLA obituary noting that "even students who bemoaned the large amount of homework he assigned described him [in reviews] as kind, helpful and patient. Some also mentioned his sense of humor, noting that he made his lectures available online, but to encourage class attendance turned off his microphone when describing what kinds of questions would be on his tests."

The shooting occurred on Wednesday morning around 10 a.m. in a small office on the fourth floor of UCLA’s Engineering IV building. A campus-wide lockdown was lifted around noon.

In the hours after the attack, UCLA students and alumni wrote short tributes to Klug on Facebook and Twitter. Later, friends in El Segundo gathered at a Little League field where Klug coached his son's baseball team.

Michael Alcala said parents came to the field to console one another.

"You know you see it on the news, but you don’t expect it to happen here. And for a person like him it’s just…it’s hard. It’s hard to tell because they…it’s that old saying ‘only the good die young.’ And for him it really strikes home because he was a really great guy," Alcala said.

"Bill just had a great patience with the kids. Real kind words, never raised his voice to any of the boys or girls that are in Little League. Just real encouraging, kept it positive," said Peter Gianusso, president of El Segundo Little League, who called Klug the "epitome of what Little League was all about. Courage, loyalty, and character. That just got to Bill right there."

Gianusso said the baseball league will would honor Klug during their closing ceremonies on Saturday.

Klug's recent projects included collaborating with the school's medical school to run the UCLA Cardiac Modeling Group, with researchers applying biomechanics to cardiology research, trying to better understand the heart, according to his UCLA obituary.

A GoFundMe page was created to raise money for his family.

The LAPD's Robbery and Homicide Division continues to investigate the case.

This story has been updated.