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'Last Lecture' professor, Randy Pausch, dies at 47
Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who became a YouTube phenomenon with his "Last Lecture," died Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47. He died at his home in southern Virginia.
RELATED: Professor Pausch's life, 'Lecture' go from Web to book
VIDEO: See 'Last Lecture' on YouTube
PHOTOS: Randy Paush's life in pictures
AUDIO: Hear a clip from 'Lecture'
Pausch told USA TODAY during an interview at his home in March that the now-famous lecture was never meant for public consumption, nor was it for his colleagues or students. It was for his two sons and daughter: Dylan, 6, Logan, 3, and Chloe, 2. "If people are finding inspiration, OK, but the book is for my kids," Pausch said.
"I knew what I was doing that day," he wrote in the introduction of his best-selling book, also titled The Last Lecture. "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."
Pausch's wife, Jai, said Friday, "I'd like to thank the millions of people who have offered their love, prayers and support. 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."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Internet | California | Oklahoma | Virginia | Time | Best-Selling Books | Alice | Brown University | Logan | Dylan | El Segundo | Chloe | Carnegie Mellon | Suite | Dam | Jai | Entertainment Technology Center
The Last Lecture (Hyperion, $21.95) has been atop or near the top of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list since it was published in April. This week it is No. 8. It has been translated into 30 languages, and nearly 3 million copies are in print.
President George W. Bush, touched by Pausch's story, recently honored him in a letter, citing his service to his country.
"Your love of family, dedication in the classroom, and passion for teaching will stand as a lasting legacy, and I am grateful for your willingness to serve," Bush wrote.
Bush's wasn't the only accolade that came Pausch's way. He made Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Although celebrated in his field for co-founding the pioneering Entertainment Technology Center and creating an innovative software tool known as "Alice," it was his lecture that earned Pausch worldwide fame.
Titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," the humorous and heartfelt talk was videotaped and quickly spread around the world via the Internet. Millions of people have since viewed it. It was delivered at Carnegie Mellon on Sept. 18, 2007, a few weeks after Pausch learned he didn't have long to live.
In the lecture he urged his students and colleagues to live life to the fullest. Among his words of wisdom:
•"Never underestimate the importance of having fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day because there's no other way to play it."
•"We can't change the cards we're dealt, just how we play the hand. If I'm not as depressed as you think I should be, I'm sorry to disappoint you."
"Good teaching is always a performance, but what Randy did was in a class all by itself," says Andy van Dam, co-founder of the computer science department at Brown University, which Pausch attended as an undergraduate. "His students responded to him as athletes do to a great coach who cares not only about winning but about the team players as individuals."
Donations can be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, CA 90245, or to Carnegie Mellon's Randy Pausch Memorial Fund (www.cmu.edu/giving/pausch), which supports the university's continued work on the Alice project.
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2008-07-26 10:52:07
