Charles Geschke retired from active management as president of Adobe in 2000. John Warnock stepped aside as CEO in 2000 and retired in early 2001. Today Geschke and Warnock are co-chairmen of the board.
Warnock continues to be active in the software industry and is a frequent speaker on the impact of computing technologies on business and publishing. He is active on or a past member of several business and nonprofit boards in addition to Adobe, including the Sundance Institute, the American Film Institute, and the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. He is also on the board of ebrary, MongoNet, and the chairman of the board of the Salon Media Group.
Geschke and Warnock have both been honored countless times for their technical and managerial achievements. In 1999 both were inducted as Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery. They received the AeA Annual Medal of Achievement Award from the American Electronics Association in 2006, and are the first software executives to receive this honor. Geschke and Warnock were among the 2008 winners of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, which is the USA's highest honor for technological and scientific achievement and both were honored for their pioneering contributions that spurred the desktop publishing revolution and for changing the way people create and engage with information and entertainment across multiple mediums including print, Web and video.
In addition, both have won awards from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); the National Computer Graphics Association; and the Rochester Institute of Technology. They have also received the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch and Inc. Magazine, and the ACM Systems Award. Warnock is the recipient of the Bodleian Medal; the Land Medal; and the Lovelace Medal and a member of the Philosophical Society. They are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded by Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, and the National Academy of Engineering.
Geschke is a recipient of the John W. Gardner Leadership Award. A board member for several educational, arts and non-profit organizations, he is a trustee emeritus of the University of San Francisco, currently holds the Rossi Chair in Entrepreneurship at the USF School of Business, and is a member of the computer science advisory board of Carnegie-Mellon University and Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. He is a board member of Tableau Software. He also serves on the boards of the San Francisco Symphony, the Commonwealth Club of California, the Egan Maritime Foundation, the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, and the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club.
"Geschke and Warnock's leadership of Adobe has been, and still is today, characterized by technical progress coupled with social responsibility,” noted Massey. “Adobe is always near the top in rankings of a 'good place to work' and 'environmental concern'. They emphasized service of Adobe to the community. In winning the Marconi Prize, their entrepreneurial leadership was as important as their extraordinary scientific achievements."
Adobe, Acrobat, Adobe Premiere, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and PostScript are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and other countries.
About the Marconi Society
The Marconi Society was established in 1974 through an endowment set up by Gioia Marconi Braga, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi. Through its annual prize, symposia, conferences, forums and publications, the Marconi Society promotes awareness of major innovations in communication theory, technology and applications with particular attention to understanding how they change and benefit society.
Contact:
The Marconi Society
Michelle Mosman, 650-722-0798
