Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

"Journeys" are special University Lectures in which Carnegie Mellon faculty members share their reflections on their journeys -- the everyday actions, decisions, challenges and joys that make a life.

Bill Gates Unplugged

Carnegie Mellon was the final stop on Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates' recent tour of several nationally recognized universities.

As founder, chairman and former CEO of Microsoft, Gates revolutionized personal computing in the digital information age. His talk at Carnegie Mellon concluded his farewell lecture tour as he transitions from Microsoft into his new role in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whose mission it is to bring innovations in health and learning to the global community.

Microsoft is one of the university's top corporate supporters, partnering with Carnegie Mellon in many ways. More than 300 university alumni currently work at Microsoft offices around the globe. Carnegie Mellon is also home to the Microsoft Research-sponsored Center for Computational Thinking, launched in March 2007 in an effort to stimulate collaborative research and educational partnerships. With a lead gift of $20 million, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has made possible the Gates Center, one of two groundbreaking buildings that will create Carnegie Mellon's new School of Computer Science Complex.