The Last Lecture Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for ten years.[1] He received numerous honors while teaching at the university including being named “Person of the Year” by ABC News, as well as being named to the “One Hundred Most Influential People in the World”.[3] In 2006 Pausch's doctors informed him that he had developed pancreatic cancer. Pausch had a resection done to try and eliminate the cancer, although a year after his procedure his doctors indicated that his cancer had returned.[2] The cancer had metastasized to his liver and he was informed he had three to six months left to live. His first task was saying goodbye to the job he loved by participating in Carnegie Mellon's last lecture circuit.[2] When a professor is leaving or retiring from the university, they are encouraged to give a “last lecture” 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?"[2] Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007.[1] According to The Los Angeles Times, Pausch paired up with a co-author, Jeffrey Zaslow, to put his lecture into words, creating The Last Lecture.[4] After publishing the book and recording his lecture, Pausch dedicated the rest of his time to enjoying his family and advocating for pancreatic cancer patients.[2] He felt responsible for people suffering from the cancer explaining, “We don't have advocates for this disease because they don't live long enough. We don’t have a Michael J. Fox because people die too fast”. Pausch died on July 25, 2008.[2]