CMU prof whose `last lecture' moved millions dies at the age of 47.

Randy Pausch said obstacles serve a purpose: They "give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Confronted with incurable cancer, he devised a last lecture that became an Internet sensation, a best-selling book and a celebration of a life spent achieving his dreams.

Ten months after giving the lecture, Pausch died Friday at his home in Chesapeake, Va., said Jeffrey Zaslow, the Wall Street Journal writer who co-wrote Pausch's book "The Last Lecture."

Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006. A year later, Pausch gave the popular 76-minute speech titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams."

A man from whom we learn how to dream and then work towards to achieve that dream.