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Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose last lecture, titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," became a viral video on YouTube, died today at the age of 47 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Doctors told Pausch last August that his cancer, which was in remission, had recurred and that he would live only three to six months longer.

A month after hearing the dreadful news, on September 18, 2007, Pausch delivered the lecture that would become his legacy. He regaled students and colleagues with a tour that was both heart-wrenching and amusing of his attempts to live out his childhood fantasies. Some he managed to pull off: experiencing zero-gravity, helping to design attractions for Disney World by participating in its Imagineering program and writing an entry in the World Book encyclopedia--on virtual reality, his expertise. Others didn't come true, such as becoming a pro football player. He alluded to teaching as a way of helping students live out their dreams.

The video of his last class, which came to be known as "The Last Lecture" and surfaced on YouTube late-last year, has been viewed nearly 3.5 million times. The lecture became a best-selling book with the same title. 

"I'd like to thank the millions of people who have offered their love, prayers and support," Pausch's wife, Jai, said after his death. "Randy was so happy and proud that the lecture and book inspired parents to revisit their priorities, particularly their relationships with their children. The outpouring of cards and emails really sustained him."

But Pausch told his students that it was his children – Dylan, 6, Logan, 3, and Chloe, 2 – for whom the speech was really intended.

"I knew what I was doing that day," he wrote in the introduction to his book. "Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children."

Aside from his Internet fame, Pausch is best known as the creator of Alice, a program that allows children to create 3-D animations. Carnegie Mellon's president Jared Cohon said of Pausch, to CNN: "His love of teaching, his sense of fun and his brilliance came together in the Alice project, which teaches students computer programming while enabling them to do something fun -- making animated movies and games." IBM fellow Grady Booch praised Alice for the ease with which it teachers young people computer programming in an interview last month with our technology editor, Larry Greenemeier.

Pausch also cofounded Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, which according to its website, brings together technology specialists and artists to "produce artifacts that are intended to entertain, inform, inspire, or otherwise affect an audience/guest/player/participant."

21 Comments

1. 1. deborahstr 08:02 PM 7/25/08

   What a good man Randy was/is. May he rest in peace. God sent him not only to teach in a classroom but as a textbook case of how God wanted men to live. I will miss his inspiration here on this earth.

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2. 2. floridawriter 10:49 PM 7/25/08

   What an amazing man whose spirit affects the common core of so many of us. God bless him.

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3. 3. gibbrn 11:31 PM 7/25/08

   Prayers and love to his family
   

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4. 4. PanamaBob 12:56 AM 7/26/08

   Like many others who were inspired by having come in contact with Randy Pausch, I am saddened by this loss, and my sympathy goes out to his family for their much greater loss. My own mother died of pancreatic cancer a mere 3 months after diagnosis, a year before I first encountered him at a SIGGRAPH conference. His family was "fortunate" to have a couple of years to prepare for the inevitable end of this aggressive disease. Dr. Pausch would have had many productive years ahead of him.

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5. 5. Quasimodo 01:44 AM 7/26/08

   This sort of stuff pisses me off in a big way. With all our science and technology we couldn't keep this guy going. RRrrrrrr! They should have trained that new radio frequency gadget - as seen on '60 Minutes' last week - on him and his various cancers! Phooey! Did I say RRrrrrrr! ?

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6. 6. Interbrol 03:20 AM 7/26/08

   I started reading his book when I was last in Greece, three weeks ago. I finished it on the flight back to Greece in the evening of 24 July, crying for much of it (no one noticed, of course!). This morning I decided to watch the video, only to find that Randy had died just a while ago. Is this coincidence? Are there coincidences in the universe? The whole experience is incredibly moving. Randy's family are in the best position they could hope to be to have to deal with this disaster; but because of his stature, the loss will seem all the greater, so they need the preparation they have had and all the support we can all give them now.

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7. 7. peterf 08:19 AM 7/26/08

   Thank you Randy, for inspiring people all over the world.

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8. 8. ricktrap 08:44 AM 7/26/08

   Truly great people are ones who touch both the heart and mind of others. Randy Pausch was a perfect example of greatness.

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9. 9. rcman 09:00 AM 7/26/08

   Mr Pausch was such a great man and i know he touched many lives including me as well as my mom....he will be GREATLY missed and i hope i can live my life as well as he lived his....GOd bless him and his family during their time of loss.

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10. 10. Greener 10:33 AM 7/26/08

    Randy lives within us all everyday forever. His message helps keep each and everyone of us more alive everyday just because he was.
    
    Thanks Randy,
    
    

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11. 11. artistkf 11:56 AM 7/26/08

    Truely an amazing man. I will remember the lessons he taught us throughout my life. My heart & prayers go out to his beloved family.

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12. 12. artistkf 11:59 AM 7/26/08

    Truely an amazing man. I will remember the lessons he taught us for the rest of my life. My heart & prayers go out ot his beloved family.

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13. 13. tbaurys 02:02 PM 7/26/08

    Randy was certainly an inspiration for so many. His children, even though so young, will grow up to learn about the incredible journey their father took in order for them to know him. My prayers are with his entire family. May they always keep Randy's spirit and determination alive in all that they do.
    Tamra
    Camden, DE

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14. 14. rodwong 10:16 AM 7/27/08

    An excellent lecture for life. Thanks Randy for sharing the wisdom leanred.

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15. 15. benefiend72 12:18 PM 7/27/08

    He made me want to be a better man. Rest in peace my brother.

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16. 16. Strangedayz 11:33 PM 7/27/08

    Thank you randy!!! you will be remebered as one of the pioneers behind the internet education age. Which will be essential to the improvement of the human race and the main factor in the elimination of ignorance for all mankind.

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17. 17. paarthasaarathy 10:57 AM 7/28/08

    I was in tears. I thank my fried who brought this to my attention. I am asking colleges and universities here in India to make their student see this video.
    
    We can face death courageously, if we have lived it that way. That is what Karma concept of Hindu philosophy states. In that sence Andy is a Karmayogi.
    
    K.S. Paarthasaarathy, Bangalore, India

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18. 18. sazzag 03:18 PM 7/30/08

    This man sums it up .......... what life should be about and he certainly puts things into perspective. I heard his speech whilst driving into work yesterday and realised, yet again, that life is so specail and short. You humbled me sir, your'e family I am sure are so proud of you and the time they had with you. Sarah UK.

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19. 19. amysmile26 09:58 PM 7/30/08

    God Bless Jai and the kids. I wish you the very best life has to offer. Randy was a one of the kind man. He will be missed greatly by many people. He gave us all something to stive for and left us with a message of hope and courage.

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20. 20. Peckerwood 11:12 PM 8/4/08

    Must have been nice to have had childhood dreams to live out.

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21. 21. kfreels 03:02 PM 2/16/10

    I'm with Quasimodo......This is just a bunch of crap. 47 year old people shouldn't die of these things and I think it's high time we put an Apollo scale project together to knock this crap out once and for all. I suggest a 10 year hiatus on all non-military space research funding with the money going to wipe out cancer in 10 years.

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