Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture
Writing by on Sunday, 13 of April , 2008 at 1:24 pm
Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture
Randy Pausch (born October 23, 1960) is a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In September 2006, he was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. He pursued a very aggressive cancer treatment that included major surgery and experimental chemotherapy; however in August of 2007 he was told that the cancer had metastasized to his liver and spleen. He then started palliative chemotherapy intended to extend his life as long as possible, which was then estimated to be three to six months.
The “Last Lecture”
Pausch delivered his “Last Lecture,” titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” at CMU on September 18, 2007.[6] This talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical “final talk,” i.e., “what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?”
Before speaking, Pausch received a long standing ovation from a large crowd of over 400 colleagues and students. When he motioned them to sit down, saying, “Make me earn it,” some in the audience shouted back, “You did!”
During the lecture, Pausch was upbeat and humorous, alternating between wisecracks, insights on computer science and engineering education, advice on building multi-disciplinary collaborations, working in groups and interacting with other people, offering inspirational life lessons, and performing push-ups on stage.
After Pausch finished his lecture, Steve Seabolt, on behalf of Electronic Arts, which is now collaborating with CMU in the development of Alice 3.0, pledged to honor Pausch by creating a memorial scholarship for women in computer science, in recognition of Pausch’s support and mentoring of women in CS and engineering.
CMU president Jared Cohon spoke emotionally of Pausch’s humanity and called his contributions to the university and to education “remarkable and stunning.” He then announced that CMU will celebrate Pausch’s impact on the world by building and naming after Pausch a raised pedestrian bridge to connect CMU’s new Computer Science building and the Center for the Arts, symbolizing the way Pausch linked those two disciplines.
Finally, Brown University professor Andries van Dam followed Pausch’s last lecture with a tearful and impassioned speech praising him for his courage and leadership, calling him a role model.
Category: Inspirational
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