SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 20, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Adobe co-founder and University of Utah alumnus John Warnock died Saturday while surrounded by his family, company officials said. He was 82.
Warnock co-founded Adobe with Charles Geschke in 1982 after meeting as colleagues at Xerox, according to an Adobe news release.
“John’s brilliance and technology innovations changed the world,” Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an email to employees. “It is a sad day for the Adobe community and the industry for which he has been an inspiration for decades.”
Adobe’s first product, PostScript, sparked the desktop publishing revolution, Narayen said.
“[Warnock’s] vision and passion enabled Adobe to deliver groundbreaking innovations such as Illustrator, the ubiquitous PDF file format and Acrobat, Photoshop and Premiere Pro, defining the desktop era and unleashing creativity and opportunity for millions of people,” he said.
Warnock retired as CEO in 2000 and was chairman of the board along with Geschke until 2017. He had been a member of Adobe’s board of directors since then.
Before co-founding Adobe, Warnock was a principal scientist at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, according to his company biography. He also held key positions at Evans and Sutherland Computer Corp., Computer Sciences Corp., IBM and his alma mater, the University of Utah.
Warnock holds a doctorate in electrical engineering (computer science), a master’s degree in mathematics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and philosophy from Utah. He was also awarded an honorary degree in science from the U.
During his career, Warnock was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Barack Obama; the Computer Entrepreneur Award from the IEEE Computer Society; the American Electronics Association Medal of Achievement; and the Marconi Prize for contributions to information science and communications.
“While the impact that his innovations have had are countless, it is his indomitable spirit, passion and belief in building a company with strong values that has impacted all of us who have had the good fortune of working at Adobe,” Narayen said.
Warnock is survived by his wife, Marva, and three children.
