John Warnock facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Warnock
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Warnock in 2008
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John Edward Warnock
October 6, 1940 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
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| Died | August 19, 2023 (aged 82) |
| Alma mater | University of Utah (BS, MS,PhD) |
| Known for | Adobe Systems PostScript Portable Document Format (PDF) |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | University of Utah |
| Doctoral advisor | David C. Evans Ivan Sutherland |
John Edward Warnock (October 6, 1940 – August 19, 2023) was a brilliant American computer scientist and inventor. He is best known for co-founding Adobe Systems Inc. with Charles Geschke in 1982. Adobe is a famous company that creates software for graphics and publishing.
Warnock was the president of Adobe for two years. After that, he became the chairman and CEO for 16 more years. Even after he retired as CEO in 2001, he continued to lead the Adobe Board of Directors with Geschke until 2017. John Warnock helped create many important technologies. These include graphics, publishing, web, and electronic document tools. His work changed how people create and share visual information.
Contents
John Warnock's Early Life and Education
John Warnock was born and grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. It might surprise you, but he actually failed math in ninth grade! However, he went on to achieve amazing things in his education.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in both mathematics and philosophy. He also received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in electrical engineering, focusing on computer science. All these degrees were from the University of Utah. Later, he received an honorary degree in science from the same university. He also got an honorary degree from the American Film Institute.
Warnock lived in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Marva E. Warnock. Marva is an illustrator. They had three children together.
John Warnock's Amazing Career
John Warnock's career was full of important inventions and breakthroughs. He helped shape the world of computer graphics and digital publishing.
Solving Math Problems Early On
One of Warnock's first big achievements was in 1964. He proved a complex math theorem for his master's thesis. This theorem helped solve a problem posed by mathematician Nathan Jacobson years earlier.
Inventing the Warnock Algorithm
In 1969, for his doctoral thesis, Warnock invented something called the Warnock algorithm. This algorithm was a big deal for computer graphics. It helped computers figure out which parts of a 3D object should be visible and which should be hidden.
The algorithm works by breaking down a complicated image into smaller, simpler parts. If a part is easy to draw, the computer draws it. If it's still too complex, it breaks that part down again. This process repeats until everything is simple enough to draw. This invention allowed computers to create images of solid objects. Before this, most computer drawings were just lines. His work was even featured on the cover of Scientific American magazine in 1970.
Creating PostScript and Adobe
In 1976, while working at Evans & Sutherland, Warnock started thinking about ideas that would lead to the PostScript language. Later, he worked at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) with Charles Geschke. They had an idea for a graphics language to control printing. However, Xerox management wasn't interested.
So, in 1982, Warnock, Geschke, and another colleague left Xerox to start their own company: Adobe. At Adobe, they developed a similar technology called PostScript from scratch. This technology made it much easier to print text and images from computers. It became very popular when Apple's LaserWriter printer used it in 1985. PostScript changed the world of media and publishing in the 1980s.
Developing Adobe Illustrator
In late 1986, Warnock invented Adobe Illustrator. This was a computer program for drawing. It used lines and bézier curves to create images. He first developed it to help his wife, Marva, with her graphic design work. Adobe Illustrator was released in early 1987.
The Birth of PDF (Portable Document Format)
In the spring of 1991, Warnock came up with an idea for a system he called "Camelot." This idea eventually turned into the Portable Document Format (PDF) file format. The main goal of PDF was to easily capture documents from any program. Then, you could send these documents anywhere and view or print them on any computer.
Warnock imagined a future where you could search for words or phrases within these digital documents. He even thought about archiving entire libraries in electronic form. This vision became a reality with PDF, which we use every day!
Other Contributions and Hobbies
One of Adobe's popular typefaces, Warnock, is named after him. Warnock held seven patents for his inventions. He also served on the boards of many other technology companies. He was a past chairman of the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. He also helped lead the American Film Institute and the Sundance Institute.
Outside of work, Warnock had many hobbies. He enjoyed photography, skiing, web development, and painting. He also loved hiking and collecting rare scientific books. He was interested in historical Native American objects.
John and his wife, Marva, strongly supported education. They donated a lot of money to the University of Utah for a new engineering building. The John E. and Marva M. Warnock Engineering Building was finished in 2007. They also supported special teaching positions at the University of Utah and Stanford University.
John Warnock's Death
John Warnock passed away on August 19, 2023. He was 82 years old.
Awards and Recognition
John Warnock received many awards for his scientific and technical achievements. Here are some of them:
- In 1989, he won the Software Systems Award from the Association for Computing Machinery.
- The University of Utah honored him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1995.
- In 1999, he became a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery.
- He received the Edwin H. Land Medal in 2000 from the Optical Society of America.
- In 2002, he was recognized by the Computer History Museum. They honored him for his work in desktop publishing with Chuck Geschke. They also recognized his innovations in computer graphics and printing.
- Oxford University's Bodleian Library gave him the Bodley Medal in 2003.
- In 2004, he received the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society.
- In 2006, Warnock and Charles Geschke were the first software executives to receive the American Electronics Association's Annual Medal of Achievement Award.
- In 2008, the IEEE Computer Society gave them the Computer Entrepreneur Award. This was for inventing PostScript and PDF, which started the desktop publishing revolution.
- In September 2009, Warnock and Geschke received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. This is one of the highest honors for scientists and inventors in the United States.
- In 2010, they received the Marconi Prize for their contributions to information science and communications.
Warnock was also a member of several important groups. These included the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.
He received honorary degrees from the University of Utah, the American Film Institute, and The University of Nottingham in the UK.
See also
- Warnock algorithm
