CHESAPEAKE, Va., July 25 (UPI) -- Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University professor whose "The Last Lecture" inspired millions, died Friday of pancreatic cancer in Virginia. He was 47.
On his Web site Thursday, a friend posted that Pausch's cancer had progressed further than expected and he was too sick to continue posting.ins
After learning last year from his doctor that his cancer was terminal, Pausch delivered "The Last Lecture" on Sept. 18, 2007. The talk was videotaped and became an Internet sensation that was viewed millions of times.
Pausch had undergone rounds of chemotherapy and radiation but, instead of focusing on the cancer, he talked about how to fulfill childhood dreams and the lessons he learned on his life's journey, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said.
The week before he gave the speech that made him a celebrity, Pausch said he wanted his children to remember him "as a guy who cared about them and about their mother, very, very much. And as a guy who believed that each day was to be lived to the fullest, and that a positive attitude will get you a lot farther than anything else."
He was survived by his wife Jai and children Dylan, 6, Logan, 4, and Chloe, 2.
