When I found out yesterday morning that Randy Pausch had passed away the night before, I felt a wave of regret pour over me. For the things I never said. Like: “Thank you for showing me that my purpose in life is to make other people’s lives better.” That would have been a good start.
Instead, we argued. A lot. Publicly, in the middle of a classroom with 100 students. I questioned his strong opinions and he pushed back. Quite honestly I couldn’t stand him. I just thought he was a tough professor that didn’t like being challenged. It was years later when I watched his Last Lecture and heard him say, “When you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.” That’s when it finally clicked. I had been wrong. And he cared enough to let me know it.
The quick post that I wrote about Randy Pausch yesterday got a lot more attention than I ever expected — but really, I should have expected it, knowing what a monumental impact Pausch had on so many people’s lives.
The post ended up getting 3,500+ hits yesterday, mostly from people who had simply Googled “Randy Pausch.” (To give you a benchmark, my most-read post to date had 610 views.) The post received a few comments and people reached out through Twitter.
I received a LinkedIn request from a woman in Chicago who said:
I am an extreme admirer of Randy Pausch and am in so much pain today to find out he lost his cancer battle. I found your website via Google and would like very much to connect with you.
Then later in the day an e-mail with the subject “Randy Pausch” came in:
Whitney, I’m just a soul out in western Oklahoma who was deeply moved and touched by the energy and enthusiasm Randy Pausch had toward the life he had been given.
Since you have studied under him, do you know if Mr Pausch was a christian believing soul?
I pray I have not offended you in any way by my question.
What a privilege you were given to have had such a friend.
Thank you for your time
These e-mails show me that everyone out there is so wildly thirsty for human connection. Death somehow brings us closer together, makes us realize our own mortality and forces us to question our priorities. Dave Malouf summed it up: “Reminds me that ‘every interaction counts’ is about LIFE, not about Design.”
Yesterday afternoon, Carnegie Mellon’s President Jared Cohon sent out an e-mail to alumni. I want to share it with you so that you can begin to understand the impact Randy Pausch had on our community.
Dear Alumni:
It is with great sadness that I inform you that our dear friend and colleague Randy Pausch passed away today, July 25, after a brave struggle against pancreatic cancer.
Randy captured the minds and hearts of millions worldwide with his Carnegie Mellon lecture, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” and his book, “The Last Lecture.”
Randy, who earned his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon in 1988, returned to the university in 1997 as an associate professor of human-computer interaction and computer science. Along with Carnegie Mellon Professor Don Marinelli, Randy was the co-founder of the Entertainment Technology Center, a leading interactive multimedia education and entertainment center.
At Carnegie Mellon, Randy was also the director of the Alice software project, a revolutionary way to teach computer programming. The interactive Alice program teaches computer programming by having kids make animated movies and games. A fitting legacy to Randy’s life and work, Alice may in the future help to reverse the dramatic drop in the number of students majoring in computer science at colleges and universities. Randy was also known as a pioneer in the development of virtual reality, and he created the popular Building Virtual Worlds class.
An award-winning teacher and researcher, Randy was also a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and a Lilly Foundation Teaching Fellow. He used sabbatical leaves to work at Walt Disney Imagineering and Electronic Arts (EA), and he consulted with Google Inc. on user interface design. He is the author or co-author of five books and more than 70 articles.
Perhaps the greatest lesson, however, Randy taught us all was how to live, even in the face of great challenges, and how to follow our passion. While Randy’s greatest passion was clearly his family, he did not shy from sharing his passion for his work as a professor, for his students, and for Carnegie Mellon. We will miss Randy, but we will carry the memory of him and all that he did to make Carnegie Mellon a better university and each of us who knew him a better person.
A memorial service for Randy will be scheduled at a later date. For more information, visit www.cmu.edu.
Sincerely,
Jared L. Cohon
President, Carnegie Mellon University
Randy would be proud of the passion he has inspired in so many people; people from different walks of life, different ages, backgrounds, professions, political affiliations. His bravery created community and connection. What more could anyone hope for?
Related Posts:
- Randy Pausch loses battle with pancreatic cancer at 47 July 25, 2008 | 21 comments
- Answering Your Questions March 5, 2009 | 3 comments
- From the Archive: Interview with The Baltimore Sun October 5, 2008 | 1 comments
- Thanks is never enough November 25, 2010 | 3 comments
- In 2008, You Changed Me January 3, 2009 | 7 comments
About Whitney Hess
Whitney Hess is a coach and writer helping product teams and senior leaders make better decisions through the principles of user experience. She believes empathy builds empires.
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