Photo: Randy Pausch / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Randy Pausch is one of those rare figures I'd file under teacher first, everything else second. A Carnegie Mellon computer scientist who worked in human-computer interaction and design, he became known worldwide not for a product but for The Last Lecture, delivered after a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis. What moves me is the framing: given three to six months, he chose to talk about living your childhood dreams rather than dying. The ACM Fellowship and CHI Academy honors confirm he was a serious scholar, not just an inspirational speaker. I think his real legacy is proving a single lecture can outlast a whole career of papers.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Randy Pausch
- Name (Japanese)
- ランディ・パウシュ
- Reading
- らんでぃ・ぱうしゅ
- Born
- October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Rat
- Origin
- Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Occupation
- motivational speaker / computer scientist / writer / pedagogue / university teacher
2. Background
- High school
- Oakland Mills High School
- University
- Brown University
Awards & achievements
- Presidential Young Investigator Award
- 2008 CHI Academy
- 2007 ACM Fellow
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | The Last Lecture | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Randy Pausch born?
October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008.
Where is Randy Pausch from?
Randy Pausch is from Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
What does Randy Pausch do?
Randy Pausch works as motivational speaker, computer scientist, writer, pedagogue, university teacher.
What is Randy Pausch known for?
Notable works include The Last Lecture.
Motivational speaker — see all → · Computer scientist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.