American computer scientist John Edward Warnock dies at 82

Adobe co-founder and PDF file format inventor passes away

American computer scientist John Edward Warnock, inventor of the PDF file format and co-founder of Adobe Systems, has died at the age of 82.

Adobe released a statement saying the Silicon Valley entrepreneur and computer scientist passed away on Saturday, surrounded by his family.

The company did not state the cause of Warnock’s death or the location where it occurred in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

Legacy of Brilliance and Innovation

“John’s brilliance and innovation have left an indelible mark on Adobe, the technology industry, and the world,” the company said in a statement.

Warnock worked at Xerox before he and his colleague Charles Geschke formed the company to pursue an idea that had been abandoned in 1982.

Nearly a decade later, Warnock introduced an early version of the Portable File Format, or PDF, to change the way documents were exchanged.

Warnock, who hails from the Hollady suburb of Salt Lake City, described himself as an ordinary, mediocre student whose math skills came later.

He received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Utah.

Warnock was the son of a prominent local lawyer but was an average student until an Olympus high school teacher became interested in him, he told Continuum, a 2013 University of Utah alumni magazine.