YouTube's star lecturer dies at 47

Randy Pausch, the professor whose "last lecture" became a runaway phenomenon on the Internet and was turned into a best-selling book, died Friday of pancreatic cancer, Carnegie Mellon University announced on its Web site.

Pausch, 47, a computer science professor, delivered the lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007, a month after being told he had three to six months to live because his cancer had returned. The lanky, energetic Pausch talked about goals he had accomplished, like experiencing zero gravity and creating Disney attractions, and those he had not, including becoming a professional football player. He used rejections he was handed when he applied for jobs at Disney to comment on the importance of persistence. "The brick walls are there for a reason ... to show us how badly we want something," he said. "Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough.

More details:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/07/25/obit.pausch/index.html

Here is his inspirational last lecture from youtube...Enjoyyy

adios to a fantastic guy.

i think the title "Youtube's star" is an understatement to a fantastic research scholar and a lively personality although he was known to a bigger mass outside the fraternity of computer scientific world through that "last lecture" posted on youtube.

i was fortunate enough to personally interact with the guy - one who defied the odds of this mortal world and 'lived' life to its fullest till its last moment notwithstanding having known he was in the vicinity of its end. great guy.

my heartfelt condolences to his family and to all who knew him. R.I.P.

Randy, you will always be remembered for all the Imagineering, Alice - my new hobby and lot more in human-computer interaction. I will like to quote a part of the message from CMU president which makes you what you are.

"Perhaps the greatest lesson, however, Randy taught us all was how to live, even in the face of great challenges, and how to follow our passion. While Randy's greatest passion was clearly his family, he did not shy from sharing his passion for his work as a professor, for his students, and for Carnegie Mellon.  We will miss Randy, but we will carry the memory of him and all that he did..."

My condolences to his family.

 

my condolence to this hero.

He was, is and will be an inspiration.

RIP Randy Pausch !!

R.I.P Professor!