Randolph Frederick "Randy" Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was a college professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Columbia, Maryland where he enrolled at Oakland Mills High School. He received his bachelor degree in Computer Science at Brown University and in 1997 Pausch became a professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University. It was at this university where Randy Pausch encouraged students to use their imagination and where he delivered his famous last lecture - “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” on September 18, 2007, a year after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things."
Randy
Pausch
Honoring a Professor, a Brother, a Husband, and a Father.
Click picture to watch Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University, which has over 14,000,000 views and counting.
Randy's children played an important role in his inpsirations for his legacy.
Life is full of "head fakes" and even though Randy couldn't become his childhood dreams he got a lot out of them.
Randy was such a motivational icon that he was featured on a Foundation for a Better Life billboard.
He was actively involved in PANCAN to raise awareness for future research on pancreatic cancer in order to help people like himself.
Randy Pausch encouraged others to live life to the fullest and never to give up on their dreams.
Randy Pausch married Jai Glascow in 2000 and had three children: Logan, Chloe, and Dylan. After learning that he had less than six months to live, he decided to deliver his last lecture to leave a legacy for his students, co-workers, family and most importantly, his children. His speech became a New York Times Bestseller, The Last Lecture, co-written with Jeffrey Zaslow, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal. While his speech was meant mainly for his children, it soon became an inspirational book and video, which encouraged people to really chase after their childhood dreams, to always persevere, and to have a positive outlook on life. Randy Pausch passed away on July 25, 2008 due to complications from pancreatic cancer at home in Chesapeake, Virginia.