Update July 25, 2008:

Dear Friends - As most of you now know, Randy passed away this morning.  Our deepest and most heartfelt condolences go to Jai and his family at this terrible time.  The brilliant flame may have been snuffed out far too early, but it burned exceptionally brightly.  The world may have lost the person, but we are better for his having been here, and Randy's spirit will continue to shine as we honor his bravery and inspiration.  The Carnegie Mellon University web site has an obituary(http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/beyond/2008/summer/an-enduring-legacy.shtml) in which the family's wish is reiterated for contributions to be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network which you may do from this page.  Since you are reading this, we thank you most humbly for honoring Randy's legacy.  Your kind wishes and contributions to date truly touched and overwhelmed Randy (he told me so specifically) and only reinforced his positive outlook.  Please keep them coming, as they will certainly do the same for Jai and the family.

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In case you are new to "the adventure" as he referred to it, Dr. Randy Pausch, a Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, delivered an incredibly inspirational "Last Lecture" on achieving your childhood dreams that has become a worldwide phenomenon due to its positive themes and Randy's moral authority to deliver it: his almost unbelievable bravery, dignity, and humility in the face of his terminal pancreatic cancer.  Watch The Last Lecture here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo (apologies in advance if the link moves).

Named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2008 by Time Magazine,
this site has been established as a way for his friends, family, and the literally millions of ordinary people around the world that Randy has inspired with his good humor, tireless optimism and commitment to live life to the fullest, to say "thank you" and more than that, to ensure that Randy's legacy will ease the burden of future generations.

FACT: Pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate and is the most underfunded of all major cancers.  It is also the only cancer on which virtually no progress has been made in the past 30 years.  75% of pancreatic cancer patients die within 12 months of the initial diagnosis and less than 5% survive for five years. The only way to change these dismal statistics is to raise as much money as possible for research.

In March of this year, Randy used his newly found and unintentional celebrity to deliver compelling  and heart-rending testimony before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (L-HHS) on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  The message that Randy so eloquently expressed was the urgent need for implementation of The National Plan to Advance Pancreatic Cancer Research, part of the RAISE THE CURE initiative for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, that represents the federal government’s part in making scientific progress in this disease.  Watch his testimony here http://pancan.org/Public/video_pausch_testimony.html.

Randy's emotional testimony included acknowledgement that this horrible disease tends to have a genetic link and that he believes significant progress is possible in his children's lifetimes with adequate funding today.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has made a commitment to raise $25 million to fund research over the next three years from private donors.  Randy said, “We can beat it if we give a lot of smart people the money to do their jobs”.  Let’s honor our incredibly courageous and inspirational friend Randy whose words and deeds moved so many, with our commitment to raise as much of that $25 million as possible!
 

Thank you for your support.

(By the way, if you are unable or would prefer not to use this online system, you may send a check to PanCAN as follows:

Payable to: PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK
Mail to:

PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK
Attn:  Randy Pausch Inspirational Tribute     (this is important)
2141 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 7000
El Segundo, CA 90245