I don't know if you would remember me, but I took a data structures class from you back in the late '80s, when you were a new professor at UVa. I was living in the Monroe Hill Residential College, and recall that you came to at least one dinner there as well as the intramural inner-tube water polo championship game our team played in.
I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that taking that class ended up changing my life - slowly, but very positively. I was a (very bad) electrical engineering student at UVa, but your class got me hooked on computers. I initially did some programming, then went into the Army after undergrad. I found myself enjoying programming for fun, and after a few years went back to grad school, choosing CS over law school just because of my enjoyment of it. I was originally a master's student, but found a good advisor and liked research, and eventually got my PhD. I ended up taking a faculty position at , but disliked the midwest and large department, so after a couple of years there moved home to .
I recently received tenure and a promotion to Associate Professor of Computer Science at University, and am certain that I ended up here, doing what I love and loving what I do, because of your class. Here is what I wrote in my tenure statement about it:
"The positive example who most influenced my attitude to teaching was Randy Pausch, now at Carnegie Mellon University. I try to show my enthusiasm for teaching and for the material as much as he did. He related complex computer-science topics to real-world examples. He often had students perform amusing examples in class to demonstrate algorithms, and he kept the material at an appropriate level. Most importantly, he cared about students doing the best they could and was both challenging and supportive throughout the semester. I challenge my students to succeed, and work hard to be as supportive as he was."
So thanks! You made a big difference in my life, and I appreciate it very much.