Randy Pausch was a professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction and Design at Carnegie Mellon University. He co-founded CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center and founded the Alice software project, a precursor to Scratch, Vidcode, and other software programs intended to teach coding skills.
In September 2006, Professor Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In August, 2007, he was told that the diagnosis was terminal, and that he had less than a year to live. In November that year, he gave a lecture at the University of Virginia on the topic of time management. His tragic circumstances, innate brilliance and prodigious communication skills made him perhaps the most qualified person ever to speak on this topic. I listened to this talk years ago, and still think of it often. It is well worth the 76 minutes to watch it.
Professor Pausch died of complications from the disease on July 25, 2008. He was 48 years old.
