BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS – A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was fatally shot at his home near Boston, prompting authorities to open a homicide investigation as the academic community reels from the sudden loss. Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and internationally respected fusion scientist, was shot Monday night at his residence in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died on Tuesday. Prosecutors said no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon and emphasized that the investigation remains active. Loureiro had joined MIT in 2016 and was appointed last year to lead the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, one of the university’s largest research laboratories. At the time he assumed leadership, the center employed more than 250 researchers, engineers, and students working across seven buildings, with a mission focused on advancing fusion energy and other clean-energy technologies.
Born and raised in Viseu, Portugal, Loureiro pursued his early education in Lisbon before earning a doctorate in London and later conducting nuclear fusion research in Portugal prior to moving to the United States. Colleagues and students described him as a deeply compassionate mentor and a gifted leader whose passion for science was matched by his kindness and clarity as a teacher. MIT officials called his death a devastating and shocking loss to the institution and the global scientific community. The killing occurred amid heightened concern over campus-related violence in the region, though authorities have said there is no known connection to other recent attacks. Neighbors reported hearing loud bangs on the night of the shooting, and students gathered near Loureiro’s apartment the following day to mourn and honor his memory. Loureiro had spoken often about the transformative potential of fusion energy, once saying it could fundamentally change the course of human history — a vision that now stands as part of his enduring legacy.
