Randy Pausch passed away today after a bout with pancreatic cancer. Randy earned his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon (my alma mater) and later returned to become a professor at CMU. I never had the opportunity to meet this man but I wish I would have. Not only was he brilliant in the ways of computer science, it was his way of living life after discovering he had pancreatic cancer that was a true inspiration to me.
In case you have never heard of Randy Pausch, he gave an amazingly inspirational “Last Lecture”. This “Last Lecture Series” is something that was conceived to to allow speakers to present a lecture as if it was their last lecture ever, to impart their final words of wisdom to those in attendance. Randy’s lecture was given after he was diagnosed with cancer and told he only had a short period of time to live. Rather than lament about his remaining time and have a wish list of things he could have or should have done, he goes on to inspire others and talk about how good life is, that you should follow your childhood dreams and passions.
If you haven’t seen his lecture, I urge you to do so. It doesn’t matter if you are healthy or sick, happy or sad. This lecture is amazing to watch and an inspiration no matter what your current situation is.
Here are two videos you can watch on YouTube:
1) Long Lecture (1 hr 16 min long)
2) Short Video (5 min)
Here’s to you Randy and what you have given your family, your friends, and millions of strangers around the world. May we all have the outlook on life that you have. I can only hope to be as inspirational to my friends and family as you have been to the world.
R.I.P. Randy Pausch
Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008
