- published: 23 Apr 2014
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Coordinates: 40°26′36″N 79°56′37″W / 40.443322°N 79.943583°W / 40.443322; -79.943583
Carnegie Mellon University (Carnegie Mellon or CMU; /ˈkɑːrnᵻɡi ˈmɛlən/ or /kɑːrˈneɪɡi ˈmɛlən/) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The university began as the Carnegie Technical Schools, founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1900. In 1912, the school became the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University. The university's 140-acre (57 ha) main campus is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Downtown Pittsburgh and abuts the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Music Hall, Schenley Park, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the Pittsburgh Golf Club, and the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the city's Oakland and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods, partially extending into Shadyside.
Randolph Frederick "Randy" Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was an American professor of computer science, human–computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pausch learned that he had pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and in August 2007 he was given a terminal diagnosis: "3 to 6 months of good health left". He gave an upbeat lecture titled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on September 18, 2007, at Carnegie Mellon, which became a popular YouTube video and led to other media appearances. He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme, which became a New York Times best-seller.
Pausch died of complications from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008.
Pausch was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Columbia, Maryland. After graduating from Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, Pausch received his bachelor's degree in computer science from Brown University in May 1982 and his Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University in August 1988. While completing his doctoral studies, Pausch was briefly employed at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and Adobe Systems.