Randy Pausch was perhaps the most influential professor I had while at Carnegie Mellon. His class, Building Virtual Worlds, was the most challenging and rewarding I’ve ever taken, so much so that I opted to take it both Sophomore and Senior year. (Students can play different roles, and the class is constantly changing, so it’s one of the rare classes that can reasonably be taken more than once) He is now dying of pancreatic cancer, but has not let that dampen his energy, resolve, and enthusiasm.