Remembering Randy Pausch October 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008

I was never a big fan of "youtube" until one day a person told me that I really must see a video called "The Last Lecture."  I decided to check it out and I must say, "I was blown away"

For those not familiar with "The Last Lecture" it took place at Carnegie Mellon University when a professor of computer science and human-computer interaction by the name of Randy Pausch decided to deliver his thoughts about life.  You see, Randy Pausch was battling pancreatic cancer.  He had discovered that he had a few months of good health left and decided to make the best of it.  On September 18, 2007, Pausch gave his lecture titled, "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" It became a youtube sensation.  The lecture then resulted in a book "The Last Lecture" that became a New York Times Bestseller and published in 35 languages.

Pausch was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  After graduating from Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, Md. and furthering his education by earning degrees from Brown University and Carnegie Mellon.  He taught from 1988-97 at the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and during that time, as part of his education, spent sabbaticals at Walt Disney.  Pausch was a huge Disney fan beginning in his childhood and throughout his life.  When discussing life issues, he would often say that a person can live their life as an Eeyore or a Tigger. He stated " Tigger finds fun in every situation and Eeyore wallows in self-misery."

During his teaching years, Pausch developed and designed many firsts.  He received the National Science Foundation Presidential You Investigator Award along with numerous other achievements in his field.  He was the author and co-author of five books and over 70 articles.

Following the delivery of his lecture, Pausch was recognized as "Person of the Week" on ABC's World News and his lecture was viewed by over a million people during the first month of its delivery.  He appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show and received admiration from the Pittsburgh Steelers.  ABC with Diane Sawyer produced an hour long show about Pausch and his Lecture.  Randy Pausch was always a Star Trek fan and was asked to film a role in Star Trek. He went to Los Angeles to shoot a scene along with a dialogue at the beginning of the film.  Time Magazine listed Randy as one of the World's Top-100 Most Influential People.

Randy Pausch succumbed to his disease on July 25, 2008 in his home in Chesapeake, Virginia in the loving presence of his wife Jai and their three children.

On September 22, 2008, Carnegie Mellon was the location of "Remembering Randy  A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Randy Pausch.  In his memorial program (pictured) a quote by Randy includes the words  "Brick walls are there for a reason: To prove how badly we want something." Those in attendance received a "Tigger" doll to remember him by. (Carnegie Mellon gave Famous Endings items pictured). Pausch rests in Chesapeake Memorial Gardens in Chesapeake City, Virginia.

Walt Disney's Magical Kingdom honored him with a plaque (pictured) with a Pausch quote located outside the Mad Tea Cups attraction that reads "Be good at something  It makes you valuable  Have something to bring to the table  Because that will  Make you more welcome."

Randy Pausch continues to be an inspiration to our world.