SAN JOSE: Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) shares the passing of the company’s beloved co-founder, Dr. Charles Geschke. Dr. Geschke passed away on Friday, surrounded by his family.
Dr. Geschke co-founded Adobe in 1982 with Dr. John Warnock, a colleague from Xerox. Their first product was Adobe PostScript, a pivotal technology that sparked the desktop publishing revolution.
Dr. Geschke was chief operating officer of Adobe from December 1986 to July 1994 and president from April 1989 until his retirement in April 2000. He served as chairman of the board with Dr. Warnock from September 1997 to January 2017 and a member of the board until April 2020, when he transitioned to become emeritus board member.
In recognition of his technical achievements, Dr. Geschke was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the Computer Entrepreneur Award from the IEEE Computer Society, and the American Electronics Association Medal of Honor.
Dr. Warnock, Adobe co-founder, former CEO and Chairman of the Board, shared the following: “I could never have imagined having a better, more likable, or more capable business partner. Not having Chuck in our lives will leave a huge hole and those who knew him will all agree.”
Dr. Geschke is survived by his wife Nancy (Nan) Geschke and his three children.
Dr. Charles Geschke co-founded Adobe in 1982 with Dr. John Warnock, driving technology innovations that forever transformed how people create and consume content across every screen. A respected and inspiring industry leader, Geschke was instrumental in developing some of the software industry’s most pioneering technologies.
Through his vision and passion, Geschke helped build Adobe from a start-up into one of the world’s largest software companies. He was chief operating officer of Adobe from December 1986 until July 1994 and president from April 1989 until his retirement in April 2000.
Geschke served as chairman of the board with Warnock from September 1997 to January 2017, a nd member of the board until April 2020. Prior to co-founding Adobe, Geschke formed the Imaging Sciences Laboratory at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and was a principal scientist and researcher at Xerox PARC’s Computer Sciences Laboratory.
Among many awards, Geschke, along with Warnock, was the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, one of the nation’s highest honors bestowed on scientists, engineers and inventors. Geschke holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University as well as a master’s degree in mathematics and an A.B. in classics, both from Xavier University.
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