Who was Nuno Loureiro? Inside the life and work of the MIT professor killed after Brown University shooting

Nuno Loureiro was a Portuguese-American theoretical physicist and professor of the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for plasma science and fusion energy, who left behind the entire scientific community with his incredible contributions.

He was born in 1977 in central Portugal and aspired to be a scientist, despite his friends having different aims for themselves. He pursued his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in physics from the Lisbon-based Instituto Superior Técnico and the London-based Imperial College, along with postdoctoral research at Princeton University and the UK’s Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.

He joined MIT in 2016 as an appointee in the Nuclear Science & Engineering Department as well as the Physics Department jointly, eventually becoming the director at the Plasma Science & Fusion Center in May 2024.

His area of research was in simulating plasma turbulence to develop clean fusion power, for which he won the Presidential Early Career Award in January 2025. However, his life was marred by a tragic incident on December 15, 2025, when he was shot several times in his Brookline, Massachusetts, home, leading to his death the next day in a Boston hospital.

Authorities linked the killing to Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old former classmate from Portugal, who had fatally shot two Brown University students earlier that day and later died by suicide in New Hampshire. The motive remains unclear, though the two studied together at Instituto Superior Técnico from 1995 to 2000. 

Early life and education of Nuno Loureiro

Nuno Loureiro spent his childhood years in central Portugal. Growing up, he was very interested in science. While most children his age wanted to become either a firefighter or a police officer, Nuno had ideas that would make his dream catch a few raised eyebrows.

His interest in science, which emerged during his childhood years, inspired him to become a physicist at one of Europe's elite engineering colleges. In 1995, he joined Instituto Superior Técnico, a highly respected institution in Portugal, located in Lisbon, as per People.

There, Nuno Loureiro reached the pinnacle of his education by graduating with a physics degree in the year 2000. At the institution of higher learning, Loureiro demonstrated curiosity and outstanding performance, making him one of the top performers in the class.

Pursuing knowledge further, Nuno Loureiro relocated to the United Kingdom to pursue his postgraduate education at Imperial College London. At Imperial College London, he graduated with a PhD in physics in the year 2005. During his PhD program, his research focused on the dynamic behavior of magnetized plasmas.

After finishing his doctorate, he pursued postdoctoral fellowships at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, which is based in New Jersey, and at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, based in the UK.

Through these periods, he interacted with top-notch facilities and international collaborators, thus refining his expertise as a theoretician modeling plasma. By the time he was in his mid-20s, Nuno Loureiro already had a strong foundation for his fusion career, focusing on using nuclear processes for clean energy.

His educational background has contributed to his well-rounded perspective around the world, tackling complex scientific problems, according to the BBC.

Pioneering career in plasma physics

Loureiro started his career at the Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear at Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal. He was a principal investigator there until 2016. During his time at Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Nuno Loureiro focused on the topic of plasma instabilities.

He made important contributions in the field of plasma behavior in the magnetic field. In a fusion reactor, plasma goes through turbulence; hence, it becomes unstable. Loureiro made important contributions in overcoming these challenges to produce more power, as per The Guardian.

In 2016, he became an assistant professor at MIT, rising to prominence for his novel strategies. Consecutively appointed in Nuclear Science & Engineering & Physics, he concentrated on theoretical plasma physics, focusing on turbulence in hot plasmas.

His research covered astrophysics, investigating plasma evolution on the boundaries of the universe, such as solar flares & black hole accretion disks. Nuno Loureiro was a prolific author in prestigious journals, working jointly with other researchers globally, including Stanislav Boldyrev at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, since 2017.

One significant event was in January 2025, when President Joe Biden honored him with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for his potential as a leader in fusion science. His colleagues appreciated his brilliant mind and amiable nature, which encouraged fellow scientists, as he was passionate about science too.

The study of fusion was not only a problem to be solved by Loureiro but was also a means to provide sustainable energy to humanity, with the potential to alter the course of human history, according to The Guardian.

Leadership at MIT and mentorship legacy

Loureiro threw himself into the research-rich environment at MIT. He became the deputy director of the Plasma Science & Fusion Center (PSFC) for innovation in fusion research in 2022. He later became the director by May 2024, managing a team of scientists focused on tokamaks and other prototypes for fusion research, with the aim of getting net energy gain from the process, which would then be used for producing endless clean energy that would help fight climate change.

Nuno Loureiro was an exemplary mentor and advocate of plasma physics at MIT’s Physics Department, as per The Guardian. He counseled graduate students patiently and perceptively. His guidance helped the students develop as individual investigators. Dennis Whyte, a former director of PSFC, called him a "bright light" in the area of mentoring.

His style was appreciated as compassionate and articulate. Benoit Forget, the director of Nuclear Science and Engineering, appreciated the care that Loureiro had for students and the community. His teachable philosophy involved determination and cleverness. He emphasized both as vital tools in pursuing fusion.

In matters beyond academia, Nuno Loureiro was active in outreach, simplifying complex matters for wider consumption. His leadership brought interdisciplinary endeavors together at PSFC, using his global experience to assemble a broad pool of talent.

His infectious enthusiasm for physics, according to some teammates, such as Bruno Soares Gonçalves from Portugal’s plasma physics institute, enhanced international networks in his area, as reported by People.

The tragic shooting and its aftermath

The series of events began on December 15, 2025, at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It was around midday that Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, shot and killed two students. This set off a manhunt. Later that evening, around 8:30 p.m., gunshots were heard from the apartment complex where Nuno Loureiro resided.

This was in Brookline. Neighbors found Loureiro wounded in the foyer. He was rushed to the hospital but died the next morning, December 16, as per ABC News. A suspect was found to be Neves Valente, who was known to have previously been in the vicinity of the building through surveillance footage.

Both had previously been classmates at Instituto Superior Técnico some two decades prior, and the relationship between them was a ‘normal’ one between students. Later, on December 18th, the body of Neves Valente was found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, thus mitigating the urgent danger.

Motive was yet to be determined. The MIT community was in deep mourning, and President Sally Kornbluth issued a statement of profound sadness for Nuno Loureiro’s wife and three children. Tributes poured in from Portugal to the US, noting his kindness and brilliance. It also had an aftermath at Brown’s campus, where vigils were held for the victims in general, according to People.

Stay tuned for more news and updates.