Randy Pausch

Randolph Frederick Pausch was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in Columbia, Maryland. He graduated in 1978 from Oakland Mills High School in Columbia and, in May 1982, received his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. In August 1988 he earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. From 1988 - 1997, Dr Pausch worked at University of Virginia in the computer science department. In 1997 Pausch became a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University. He co-founded Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center and became one of the developers of the software project called "Alice". He authored or co-authored five books and over 70 articles and is also known for his virtual reality research with Walt Disney Imagineering. In 2007 he earned two awards from the Association for Computing Machinery for his achievements in computing education. In August 2006, Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The following year he received worldwide media coverage for his inspirational "Last Lecture," titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." He delivered this lecture at Carnegie Mellon on 18 September 2007, a month after learning that his cancer was terminal and that he had only three to six months to live. His speech became a New York Times best-selling book, "The Last Lecture," which he co-wrote with Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal. Pausch's lecture drew the attention of such programs as ABC's ABC World News Tonight with David Muir (1953) with Charles Gibson, which named Pausch their "Person of the Week" on 21 September 2007, and The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986), where Pausch discussed his situation and recapped his "Last Lecture" for millions of television viewers. In May 2008, Pausch was listed by Time as one of the World's Top-100 Most Influential People Pausch also attracted the attention of the National Football League, which allowed him to join the Pittsburgh Steelers for a day of regular practice after the organization learned that one of his childhood dreams mentioned in his "Last Lecture" was to play in the NFL. A devoted "Star Trek" fan, another of Pausch's childhood dreams was to be Captain Kirk. Hearing of this, director and producer J.J. Abrams sent a personal e-mail to Pausch, inviting him to the set of the film Star Trek (2009) in Los Angeles. Pausch happily accepted and was given a brief role in the film, complete with a customized Starfleet uniform (which he was allowed to keep) and a line of dialogue. For his time on the film, Pausch received a $217.06 paycheck, which he gave to charity. In May 2008, a PET scan showed that Pausch's cancer had spread to his lungs and the lymph nodes in his chest. On 24 July, it was revealed that the cancer had progressed further than expected. The next day Pausch succumbed to his disease at his family's home in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he had moved to be with extended family. He is survived by his wife, Jai Glasgow, and children, Dylan (born 2002), Logan (born 2004) and Chloe (born 2006).