John E. Warnock BS’61 MS’64 PhD’69 is one of nine researchers who received the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on its scientists, engineers, and inventors. President Barack Obama presented the 2008 National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a White House ceremony October 7, 2009.

As founders of Adobe Systems, Warnock and colleague Charles M. Geschke are being recognized for their pioneering contributions that spurred the desktop publishing revolution. Together they developed the techniques, tools and approaches that revolutionized the way people create and engage with information.

“The entire U community is extraordinarily proud of the legacy of its computing pioneers,” said Michael K. Young, president of the University of Utah. “John Warnock is one of our most outstanding alumni, and continues to inspire our success in engineering and technology. He is richly deserving of this honor.”

Warnock received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in math at the University of Utah, and went on to obtain a doctorate in electrical engineering from the U in 1969.

The University of Utah served as a remarkable incubator of emerging technology in the 1960s and 1970s. Computing pioneers like David Evans, Ivan Sutherland, Alan Kay, Nolan Bushnell, Henri Gouraud, Jim Blinn, James Clark and Ed Catmull found educational and research opportunities that fostered computer advancements that revolutionized the way people engage with the world.

Graduates from the U founded or were deeply involved with a broad range of some of the most important technology-related companies of our generation, including Evans & Sutherland, Atari, and Pixar. The University continues to encourage innovation and collaborative thinking, engaging students, faculty and business leaders in conversations addressing issues of energy, sustainability, technology and personalized medicine.

—U of U News Room

Read the article in the Salt Lake Tribune (pdf file)

John Warnock is the recipient of numerous scientific and technical awards, including

• the Software Systems Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1989.
• the University of Utah Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1995
• inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery in 1999
• awarded the Edwin H. Land Medal from the Optical Society of America in 2000.[
• awarded the Bodley Medal from Oxford University’s Bodleian Library in November, 2003
• awarded the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society in London in 2004
• received the American Electronics Association’s Annual Medal of Achievement Award, along with Adobe co-founder Charles Geschkebeing, the first software executives to receive this award in October 2006
• Warnock and Geschke received the Computer Entrepreneur Award from the IEEE Computer Society “for inventing PostScript and PDF and helping to launch the desktop publishing revolution and change the way people engage with information and entertainment“ in 2008
• Warnock and Geschke received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, one of the nation’s highest honors bestowed on scientists, engineers and inventors In September 2009 (mentioned above)
• received Honorary Degrees from the University of Utah and the American Film Institute

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