Professor Randy Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008)

in this page you will find:

  • wWho is Randy Pausch, and a brief history of him.

  • What was he known for.

  • 5 points that I liked in his talk.

Summary:

Randy Pausch was born in October 23rd 1960. Pausch who is a father of three children grew up in Columbia and finished his early studies till high school there.

In 1982 Randy Pausch received his bachelor degree in Computer Science from Brown University, and then he joined Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Science PhD program. Pausch received his PhD degree in 1988, and during his PhD preparations Pausch was employed in Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and Adobe Systems.

After receiving his PhD, Randy Pausch joined the faculty of computer science in University of Virginia’ School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and in quite short time he got tenured successfully.

Randy Pausch is a dedicated educator, he was known for his amazing sense of humor, his wisdom, and his motivating lectures that contain valuable words.

Randy Pausch is the co-founder of ETC, Entertainment Technology Center, at Carnegie Mellon and he taught that course for ten years. Professor Pausch is also the director of Alice software project, the co-author of the New York Times best-seller book “The Last Lecture” which is an amazing book in my opinion.

Randy Pausch has been awarded many times for his contribution to both academia and practical worlds, and for his accomplishments.

Every time I review his lectures, I realize more how great this man was, and how fortunate his students and colleges were to have someone like him. He keep inspiring them as they say and as it is clear, he keeps their spirits up, and his impacts effected many people even if they never met him face to face.

Unfortunately, Professor Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and this is the start of the end. Though such a terminal disease might break a person down, however this isn’t applied on Randy Pausch, he just kept going on his normal life and his achievements, and also on his inspirational lectures.

One of his last lectures took place at University of Virginia, where 850 people attend that lecture. The lecture was titled “Time Management”, it is obviously mainly about how to manage time. Surely it was full of wisdom, and valuable advices. And because the whole lecture is great, and every single word is important, it is hard to be summarized, but I’ll try to point out what I liked the most about it.

  • Professor Randy Pausch uses a simple language that gives strong meanings and at the same time easy for the audience to understand.

  • Professor Randy Pausch gives a real life experience which is almost his, and that is important to mean " it can be done by human " !. that was presented by the story when he tried to become an imagineer.

  • Professor Randy Pausch keeps the audience engaged, and that was presented by the questions he asks them from time to time.

  • Professor Randy Pausch in his talk points out some facts about us which we aren't aware of, for example: how much time we waste in phone calls, the time we waste in meetings, and so on

  • some of the talk's main points like: how to prioritize "to-do list", when to use technology, the time journal, and the work-life balance point.

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