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Kaine and his appointed leader of the panel, retired state police superintendent, Col. Gerald Massengill, said the panel is not to lay blame but to find out how to improve policies and procedures, and learn whether there were policies in place to correctly guide the people making the decisions.

"This is a case study of a very tragic incident," said Massengill. "We're not trying to second-guess anyone with any decision. Our purpose is to address those things that need to be brought forward we are going out there to find some lessons to learn."

The panel will consist of eight people, five of whom Kaine announced yesterday. Besides Massengill, they include former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge; Gordon Davies, a former director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Roger Depue, a former administrator at the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime; Aradhana "Bela" Sood, chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Medical Director of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children at VCU Medical Center; and Dr. Marcus L. Martin, assistant dean for the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia.

Kaine said he also plans to appoint a retired judge with expertise in the way the state judicial system handles mental health cases, as well as someone with expertise in services to crime victims.

"It's very important that the panel be constructed of people who have subject-matter expertise," Kaine said.

Kaine said he has talked to Virginia Tech President Charles Steger about the independent review, and that Steger wholeheartedly agreed with the need for it but asked Kaine to take over appointing it while Virginia Tech officials focus on dealing with victims, families and other students.

He chose Massengill to lead the panel because of his reputation for success. Massengill retired from the state police in 2003, but came out of retirement in 2005 to reshape the beleaguered Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Kaine and Massengill said they want to start work soon, and hope to make the process as public and transparent as possible.

Massengill said he intends to have recommendations ready to be used by Virginia and other states in time for the start of the next school year in the fall.

The panel will study three major areas, Kaine said. One is Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter, to learn about who he was, his mental health, his interaction with school and mental health authorities, his purchase of handguns.

"We need to know everything about this young man," Kaine said.

The panel will also study what happened at Virginia Tech Monday morning, minute-by-minute, as well as the response by the administration, the police, emergency officials, and anyone else involved.

"The primary purpose isn't blame, it isn't recrimination, it isn't pointing fingers," Kaine said.