Randy Pausch Last Lecture
Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
Randy Pausch Lecture
Time Management
Dear Colleagues:It is with great sadness that I inform you that our dear friend andcolleague Randy Pausch passed away today, July 25, after a bravestruggle against pancreatic cancer.
Randy captured the minds and hearts of millions worldwide with hisCarnegie Mellon lecture, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” andhis book, “The Last Lecture.”
Randy, who earned his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon in 1988, returnedto the university in 1997 as an associate professor of human-computerinteraction and computer science. Along with Carnegie Mellon ProfessorDon Marinelli, Randy was the co-founder of the EntertainmentTechnology Center, a leading interactive multimedia education andentertainment center.
At Carnegie Mellon, Randy was also the director of the Alice softwareproject, a revolutionary way to teach computer programming. Theinteractive Alice program teaches computer programming by having kidsmake animated movies and games. A fitting legacy to Randy’s life andwork, Alice may in the future help to reverse the dramatic drop in thenumber of students majoring in computer science at colleges anduniversities. Randy was also known as a pioneer in the development ofvirtual reality, and he created the popular Building Virtual Worldsclass.
An award-winning teacher and researcher, Randy was also a NationalScience Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and a LillyFoundation Teaching Fellow. He used sabbatical leaves to work at WaltDisney Imagineering and Electronic Arts (EA), and he consulted withGoogle Inc. on user interface design. He is the author or co-author offive books and more than 70 articles.
Perhaps the greatest lesson, however, Randy taught us all was how tolive, even in the face of great challenges, and how to follow ourpassion. While Randy’s greatest passion was clearly his family, he didnot shy from sharing his passion for his work as a professor, for hisstudents, and for Carnegie Mellon. We will miss Randy, but we willcarry the memory of him and all that he did to make Carnegie Mellon abetter university and each of us who knew him a better person.
A memorial service for Randy will be scheduled at a later date.
Sincerely,
Jared L. Cohon
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