June 9, 2008
'Wall Street Journal' Columnist: Dying Professor Told His Life Story on a Bike
Randy Pausch’s “last lecture” at Carnegie Mellon University last year has inspired other colleges to ask their professors to also deliver last lectures—hypothetical ones—according to Jeffrey Zaslow, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Zaslow made the remarks to college leaders at The Chronicle’s Executive Leadership Forum today.
Mr. Zaslow wrote a book with Mr. Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon computer-science professor, about the latter’s life. The professor has become an international celebrity for a talk he gave in September at the university about his life. The talk was billed as his last lecture because Mr. Pausch had discovered he was dying of pancreatic cancer. The Wall Street Journal made a video of the lecture and it instantly became a hit on the Web. Then Mr. Pausch was featured on ABC’s “Oprah” and “20/20.”
Mr. Pausch fed Mr. Zaslow information for the book while riding his bicycle, Mr. Zaslow revealed. Mr. Pausch donned a headset and spoke to Mr. Zaslow over a couple months in sessions that totaled 53 hours.
Mr. Zaslow also revealed that Mr. Pausch’s health has deteriorated sharply, and that his kidneys and heart are failing.
In honor of Mr. Pausch, Carnegie Mellon plans to name a footbridge after him that will connect the university’s Gates Center for Computer Science with the Purnell Center for the Arts. Hilary Robinson, a university dean, said the bridge symbolizes Mr. Pausch’s commitment to an interdisciplinary approach to computer-science education.—Andrea L. Foster
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I highly recommending using Dr. Pausch’s lecture series in the classroom. Though I teach college age students, some are not very grounded. After showing the long version of the Last Lecture, I noticed a change in their attitudes, focus and seriousness about life. They have kept up with Randy’s health, regularly checked his website for updates, purchased his book and intend to use his lecture when they get their own classrooms one day. They also shared that the unit I did over this was their favorite part of the class. I hope that Randy Pausch knows the impact he has had on so many lifes. I keep praying for a miracle for him.
— Educ Instructor Jun 9, 05:16 PM #
His lecture had me laughing and crying and then laughing again. And his book is wonderful – not merely an easy read (though it is that) but a wonderful example of how to really live a life. Plus, I have 10 copies of each of his lecture and book squirreled away – which solves some Christmas gift giving obligations. I hate it that he’s dying – but perhaps his most significant contribution comes through his sharing of his journey.
— TDD Jun 10, 01:40 PM #
My college has been having an annual “Last Lecture” by a professor each year, most of whom won’t be leaving anytime soon… and we’ve been doing it for probably about 10 years… not inspired by Dr. Pausch… but more schools doing it is a great thing…
— Ray Jun 10, 06:30 PM #
Practice dying – Plato
— srm Jun 11, 07:50 AM #