We mourn the sudden passing of Dr. John Warnock, co-founder of Adobe, at the age of 82.
Dr. Warnock passed away peacefully surrounded by family on March 13th, 2021. He was born in Salt Lake City in 1939 and received a doctorate in computer science from the University of Utah.
Dr. Warnock and his friend and colleague Charles Geschke, founded Adobe in 1982. The company started with the invention of PostScript, a revolutionary language for specifying the look of text and graphics for printing. PostScript became a commercial success and enabled desktop publishing.
Adobe was the first company to successfully market desktop publishing software to the mainstream market, heralding the birth of the desktop publishing revolution. PostScript quickly became the industry standard for producing digital documents.
Adobe has since gone on to become the preeminent illustration and design software company in the world, responsible for the creation of products such as Photoshop, InDesign, and the entire Creative Suite.
In addition to his work with Adobe, Dr. Warnock was renowned for his philanthropy and philanthropic activities, particularly in the fields of education, the environment, and biomedical research. He served on numerous boards, including the Packard Foundation, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the National Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Warnock’s colleagues have expressed deep sadness over his passing. In a statement, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said, “John was a brilliant technologist and leader who had an enormous impact on the world. He was an incredible innovator and thinker, and above all, a wonderful human being.”
The work and service of Dr. John Warnock will live on, and his legacy will be remembered for years to come. He will be sorely missed, but his contributions to the world will not be forgotten.
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