Charles Geschke
Encyclopedia
Charles Geschke, is best known as the 1982 co-founder with John Warnock
of Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company.
.
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Geschke had started there in the early 1970s. Geschke formed and headed PARC's Imaging Sciences Laboratory in 1978 where he directed research activities in the fields of computer science, graphics, image processing, and optics. There he hired his long-term research partner, John Warnock and together they invented a page description language (PDL), which provided a means to describe complex forms like typefaces electronically – called Interpress. Unable to convince Xerox management of the commercial value of Warnock's InterPress graphics language for controlling printing, the two left Xerox to co-found Adobe Systems.
, formed the first desktop publishing (DTP) system where anyone could set type, compose documents, and print them as they appeared on the screen electronically. PostScript was marketable as it was machine-independent and extremely flexible. With this new approach, they brought their product to the market, allowing business users to greatly improve the quality and efficiency of their document production, and thus began an entire industry. From December 1986 until July 1994 Geschke was Adobe's Chief Operating Officer, and from April 1989 until April 2000 he was the company's president. Geschke retired as president of Adobe in 2000, shortly before his partner Warnock left as CEO. He has served as Co-Chairman of the Board of Adobe since September 1997.
Geschke's company was ranked as number 1,069th on the Forbes
Global 2000 in 2010, and in 2009 was mentioned in Forbe's list of 400 Best Big Companies in 2009.
The two kidnappers, Mouhannad Albukhari, 26, of San Jose, and Jack Sayeh, 25, of Campbell, were eventually sentenced to life terms in state prison.
. In 2002 he received the 2001 Fellow Award from the Computer History Museum
. The award was to honor his accomplishments in the commercialization of desktop publishing with John Warnock and for innovations in scalable type, computer graphics and printing.
In October 2006, Geschke, along with co-founder John Warnock received the AeA Annual Medal of Achievement Award, making them the first software executives to receive this award. In 2008 he received the Computer Entrepreneur Award from the IEEE Computer Society
. In 2009, he also won the 2008 National Medal of Technology, awarded by President Barack Obama
.
Also, in 1995 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2008 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He recently, in 2010, completed his term as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of San Francisco.
John Warnock
John Edward Warnock is an American computer scientist best known as the co-founder with Charles Geschke of Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company. Dr. Warnock was President of Adobe for his first two years and Chairman and CEO for his remaining sixteen years at the company...
of Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company.
Education
Geschke attended Saint Ignatius High School, and earned a BA in classics and an MS in mathematics from Xavier University, as well as a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
.
Background
Prior to co-founding Adobe, Geschke and Warnock worked at Xerox'sXerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Geschke had started there in the early 1970s. Geschke formed and headed PARC's Imaging Sciences Laboratory in 1978 where he directed research activities in the fields of computer science, graphics, image processing, and optics. There he hired his long-term research partner, John Warnock and together they invented a page description language (PDL), which provided a means to describe complex forms like typefaces electronically – called Interpress. Unable to convince Xerox management of the commercial value of Warnock's InterPress graphics language for controlling printing, the two left Xerox to co-found Adobe Systems.
Adobe
Geschke and co-founder Warnock's Interpress language evolved into Adobe's PostScript, which when combined with hardware from Apple computerApple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
, formed the first desktop publishing (DTP) system where anyone could set type, compose documents, and print them as they appeared on the screen electronically. PostScript was marketable as it was machine-independent and extremely flexible. With this new approach, they brought their product to the market, allowing business users to greatly improve the quality and efficiency of their document production, and thus began an entire industry. From December 1986 until July 1994 Geschke was Adobe's Chief Operating Officer, and from April 1989 until April 2000 he was the company's president. Geschke retired as president of Adobe in 2000, shortly before his partner Warnock left as CEO. He has served as Co-Chairman of the Board of Adobe since September 1997.
Geschke's company was ranked as number 1,069th on the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
Global 2000 in 2010, and in 2009 was mentioned in Forbe's list of 400 Best Big Companies in 2009.
1992 Kidnapping
On the morning of May 26, 1992, Geschke was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Adobe parking lot in Mountain View, California by two men as he arrived for work. He was held for four days before being recovered from a house in Hollister, California by the FBI. On May 31, Geschke was freed when a suspect caught with $650,000 in ransom money led authorities to a bungalow hideout, according to the F.B.I.The two kidnappers, Mouhannad Albukhari, 26, of San Jose, and Jack Sayeh, 25, of Campbell, were eventually sentenced to life terms in state prison.
Awards
In 1999 Charles Geschke was inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing MachineryAssociation for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
. In 2002 he received the 2001 Fellow Award from the Computer History Museum
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
. The award was to honor his accomplishments in the commercialization of desktop publishing with John Warnock and for innovations in scalable type, computer graphics and printing.
In October 2006, Geschke, along with co-founder John Warnock received the AeA Annual Medal of Achievement Award, making them the first software executives to receive this award. In 2008 he received the Computer Entrepreneur Award from the IEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society
The IEEE Computer Society is a professional society of IEEE. Its purpose and scope is “to advance the theory, practice, and application of computer and information processing science and technology” and the “professional standing of its members.” The CS is the largest of 38 technical societies...
. In 2009, he also won the 2008 National Medal of Technology, awarded by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Affiliations
Geschke serves on the boards of the San Francisco Symphony, the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, the Commonwealth Club of California, and Tableau Software. He serves on the computer science advisory board of Carnegie-Mellon University, the Board of the Egan Maritime Foundation, and the board of the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an ACM Fellow.Also, in 1995 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2008 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He recently, in 2010, completed his term as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of San Francisco.
Personal life
In 1964, Charles Geschke married his wife Nan, and the two are still married with children and grandchildren.External links
- Biography at Computer History Museum
- Biography on Adobe Web site
- Los Altos Town Crier: A dramatic kidnapping revisited (part 1/4)
- Los Altos Town Crier: Two days of terror, uncertainty (part 2/4)
- Los Altos Town Crier: Chuck's dramatic rescue (part 3/4)
- Los Altos Town Crier: Aftermath of a kidnapping (part 4/4)
- Driving Adobe: Co-founder Charles Geschke on Challenges, Change and Values interview of Charles Geschke's roles in Adobe