I am sad to learn that Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose “last lecture” about facing terminal cancer became an international sensation and a best-selling book, died today early Friday at his home in Virginia.

On my site, I only talk about people and scientists whom I know. But Randy Pausch first caught my attention while I was reading Wall Street Journal.

I like his thinking and admire his courage.

He was an articulate Lecturer and focused. One line I particularly like is when he talked about framing his illness as an engineering problem — engineering is not about optimal solution but it’s doing the best with what you have.

The lecture was videotaped and footage began spreading across thousands of Web sites. (The full talk can now be seen at thelastlecture.com.) His last lecture is shown below: