Who is John Warnock? Tributes pour in as Adobe co-founder passes away at 82

Adobe Systems Inc. co-founder Dr. John Warnock, responsible for software like Illustrator and PDF, passed away on Saturday, August 19, 2023, at the age of 82. The tragic news was confirmed by the company on Sunday in X, previously known as Twitter. They stated,

"John's brilliance and technology innovations changed the world. It is a sad day for the Adobe community and the industry for which he has been an inspiration for decades."

Adobe's statement about John's death (Image via Twitter/ @Adobe)

While the cause of the computer scientist turned entrepreneur's death was not released, the statement added that he was surrounded by his family at the time.

John Warnock co-founded Adobe in 1982 with Charles Geschke, whom he met while working for Xerox. The pair worked together to build the company from a start-up to a multimillion-dollar software giant, starting with PostScript. They would go on to create the PDF, a software that let people present and share documents "regardless of the software, hardware, or operating systems."

Warnock served as the president of the company for the first two years and its CEO for the next sixteen years. He stepped down from his roles as CEO in 2000 and as CTO in 2001. He continued as the chairman of the board until January 2017.

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"What a great loss": Internet users mourn the death of John Warnock

As news of John Warnock's death spread, netizens were quick to express their loss and celebrate the Adobe co-founder's life and achievements. Many took to X, to share their personal experiences with the computer scientist, while others commented on the impact of his work across the globe.

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More about John Warnock

Warnock was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Utah, earning a Bachelor of Science degree, a Doctor of Philosophy degree, and an honorary degree in science. Prior to founding Adobe, he worked at Evans & Sutherland, a computer graphics company based in Utah, and Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center.

Following his retirement, he dedicated his time to his family. Along with his wife, he spent time collecting rare books and Native American art. Many of the books have been scanned and uploaded online at rarebookroom.org.

John Warnock is survived by his wife, Marva Warnock, and three children.