We don’t know if you guys ever caught Randy Pausch, the 47 year-old scientist diagnosed with terminal, pancreatic cancer who became an internet phenomenon with his “Last Lecture” on how to achieve your childhood dreams, but he died yesterday. We first heard of him on The Oprah Winfrey Show where she highlighted him for his remarkably positive outlook on life despite the fact that pancreatic cancer—which is usually only caught after it’s spread to the entire body—left him with, in essence, a death sentence.

Pausch was an award-winning, innovative, computer scientist who, in addition to being on the Carnegie Mellon faculty since 1997, also spent a 1995 sabbatical working as a Walt Disney Imagineer—a childhood dream of his. He won numerous education awards and just, plain seemed to live every moment of his life to the fullest. As a testimony to his legacy, a link to the famous, “Last Lecture” is below.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams [YouTube]
In Memoriam: Randy Pausch, Innovative Computer Scientist at Carnegie Mellon, Launched Education Initiatives, Gained Worldwide Acclaim for Last Lecture [Market Watch]