US 'Last Lecture 'professor Randy Pausch dies

US professor Randy Pausch, who shot to global fame because of the inspirational "Last Lecture" he delivered just weeks after learning he had terminal cancer, died Friday, the university where he taught said.

"He died today," Alyssa Mayfield, a spokeswoman for Carnegie Mellon University, where Pausch had taught computer science since 1997, told AFP.

Pausch was 47.

Celebrated in his chosen field and praised as an inspirational teacher, Pausch sprang to worldwide fame for his "Last Lecture," delivered at Carnegie Mellon on September 18 last year after he learned he was dying of pancreatic cancer and had months to live.

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just the way we play the hand," Pausch said in the lecture, which was laced with humor and optimism.

Titled "Really achieving your childhood dreams," the lecture was a call for all those who knew Pausch to "go on without him and do great things," Carnegie Mellon said in a statement released Friday.

The talk was videotaped and subsequently criss-crossed the world via the Internet. More than 3.2 million people had viewed the "Last Lecture" on YouTube alone as of Friday, and according to Carnegie Mellon, tens of millions have watched Pausch's inspirational talk.

Full article via AFP

Hats of to a really passionated teacher.