John Warnock, the co-founder of Adobe and a pioneer of computer software, and a Los Altos resident, has died at age 82.
His vision and passion enabled Adobe to deliver groundbreaking innovations such as Illustrator, Photoshop and Premiere Pro and the ubiquitous PDF file format, defining the desktop era and unleashing creativity and opportunity for millions of people, Adobe Chair and CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an email to all Adobe employees on Sunday.
Warnock lived in Los Altos with his wife, Marva Warnock. He is survived by three children.
He died on Saturday following a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was surrounded by his family.
Warnock co-founded Adobe in 1982 with Charles Geschke after meeting as colleagues at Xerox in Palo Alto, according to his bio.
Their first product was Adobe PostScript, a programming language that was key in the desktop publishing revolution, Narayen said.
Warnock retired as CEO in 2000,
President Barack Obama awarded Warnock the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, one of the nation’s highest honors bestowed on scientists, engineers and inventors, in 2008.
Warnock was chairman of the board, a position he shared with Geschke, until 2017.