Today would have been Dr. Randy Pausch’s 49th birthday. He died of pancreatic cancer but not before making one more indelible mark, “The Last Lecture“.

One of his many legacies is the Alice Project – a 3D animation environment that makes it easy for students to learn object oriented programming while creating animated movies.

As for “the Last Lecture”, here are a few of his memorable quotes …

remember, the brick walls are there for a reason.  The brick walls are not there to keep us out.  The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.  Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.

The best way to teach somebody something is to have them think they’re learning something else.

It’s not about how to achieve your dreams.  It’s about how to lead your life.  If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself.  The dreams will come to you.

I just saw the news that Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch lost his battle with Pancreatic Cancer. I lost count how many times I showed his “Last Lecture” video to friends and family and recommended or sent the link out.

It’s also sad, to a great extent because, today’s logo was created on March 31st. Sad because the fatality rate for pancreatic cancer is so high and so quick, the logo was nearly destined to get used. I had planned for it to appear on September 18th, the 1-year anniversary of his lecture with the hope he would still be talking about the illness and bringing his own form of inspiration to the cause.

I have never met the man. I did start using Alice as a direct result of seeing his lecture. I am also trying to get the local college to adopt it to promote more technical education opportunities and exposure. It proves one again that with the right exposure people can make a difference quickly and one that lasts.

Caregie Mellon has a page highlighting his “Enduring Legacy“.

Its is quite amazing how you can start your day in the usual way and then have it change dramatically.  I started today “blog surfing” – which is not uncommon for me. I saw a post titled; “Lessons for a Successful Life“. The blogger made a compelling case for spending the next 90 minutes watching a professor from Carnegie-Mellon University give a lecture talk. He was so right. Click on the image to watch and listen. (Alternate link here.) If you are still not ready to give 90 minutes, then watch this “brief“. It does not begin to convey the messages of full lecture but perhaps it will change your mind toward watching the full length talk.

If you have an iPod and will have 90 minutes stuck on a train, a plane, or the passenger seat of an automobile, you can  also download the video.

It’s a bit ironic (and fortunate) that I should come across both the post and the video. I will not pontificate on the lecture. Randy Pausch writes it better; “I am glad this lecture has been received so well. It really was for my kids …”