Charles Matthew "Chuck" Geschke (September 11, 1939 – April 16, 2021) was an American businessman and computer scientist best known for founding the graphics and publishing software company Adobe Inc. with

John Warnock John Edward Warnock (born October 6, 1940) is an American computer scientist and businessman best known for co-founding Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company, with Charles Geschke. Warnock was President of Adobe for ...

in 1982, and co-creating the PDF document format with

Early life and education

Charles Matthew Geschke was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 11, 1939. He attended Saint Ignatius High School. Geschke earned an AB in classics in 1962 and an MS in mathematics in 1963, both from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

. He taught mathematics at

John Carroll University John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3 ...

from 1963 to 1968.Classical Studies Dr. Charles M. "Chuck" Geschke
.

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

. Accessed December 31, 2010. In 1972, he completed his PhD studies in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University under the advice of

William Wulf William Allan Wulf (born December 8, 1939) is a computer scientist notable for his work in programming languages and compilers. Until June 2012, he was a university professor and the AT&T Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the Depart ...

. He was a co-author of Wulf's 1975 book ''

The Design of an Optimizing Compiler ''The Design of an Optimizing Compiler'' (Elsevier Science Ltd, 1980, ), by William Wulf, Richard K. Johnson, Charles B. Weinstock, Steven O. Hobbs, and Charles M. Geschke, was published in 1975 by Elsevier. It describes the BLISS optimizing comp ...

''.

Career

Geschke started working at Xerox's

Palo Alto Research Center PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xero ...

(PARC) in October 1972. His first project was to build a mainframe computer. Afterward, he worked on programming languages and developed tools that were used to build the

Xerox Star The Xerox Star workstation, officially named Xerox 8010 Information System, is the first commercial personal computer to incorporate technologies that have since become standard in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window-based ...

workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...

. In 1978, Geschke started the Imaging Sciences Laboratory at PARC, and conducted research in the areas of graphics, optics, and image processing. He hired

, and together they developed Interpress, a

page description language In digital printing, a page description language (PDL) is a computer language that describes the appearance of a printed page in a higher level than an actual output bitmap (or generally raster graphics). An overlapping term is printer control la ...

(PDL) that could describe forms as complex as

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

s. Unable to convince Xerox management of the commercial value of Interpress, the two left Xerox to start their own company.Charles Geschke 2002 Fellow Awards Recipient
. Computer History Museum. Accessed December 31, 2010.

Adobe

Geschke and Warnock founded Adobe in Warnock's garage in 1982, naming the company after the Adobe Creek that ran behind Warnock's home. Interpress eventually evolved into PostScript. Its use on

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

computers resulted in one of the first

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online ...

(DTP) systems which allowed users to compose documents on a

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

and see them on screen exactly as they would appear in print, a process known as

WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed d ...

, an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. Previously, graphic designers had been forced to view their work in text-only format while they worked, until they printed, or hit "print preview". Because of the high quality and speed at which printing and composing could be done in WYSIWYG, the innovation "spawned an entire industry" in modern printing and publishing. 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. Geschke had also served as Co-Chairman of the Board of Adobe from September 1997 to 2017.Charles M. Geschke Co-Chairman of the Board Adobe Systems Inc
.

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

. Accessed December 31, 2010.Charles Geschke Bio
Santa Clara University. Accessed December 31, 2010. Adobe was mentioned in ''

400 Best Big Companies'' in 2009, and was ranked 1,069th on the ''Forbes Global 2000'' list in 2010.

1992 kidnapping

On the morning of May 26, 1992, as Geschke was arriving for work in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

, he was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Adobe parking lot by two men, Mouhannad Albukhari, 26, of San Jose, and Jack Sayeh, 25, of Campbell. A spokesperson for the FBI reported that the agency had monitored phone calls that the kidnappers had made to Geschke's wife, demanding a ransom. The spokesperson added that Albukhari had been arrested after he had picked up the $650,000 ransom that Geschke's daughter had left at a drop-off point. An FBI agent explained that, " ter a gentlemanly discussion", Albukhari had brought them to a bungalow in Hollister, where Sayeh had been holding Geschke hostage. Geschke was released unhurt after being held for four days, although he stated that he had been chained."FBI rescues a kidnapped businessman"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. p. B7. Accessed December 31, 2010. The two kidnappers were eventually sentenced to life terms in state prison.

Awards

In 1999, Geschke was inducted as a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In 2002, he was made a fellow of the Computer History Museum for "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 annual AeA Medal of Achievement, making them the first software executives to receive this award. In 2008 he received the Computer Entrepreneur Award from the

IEEE Computer Society The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

. He also won the 2008 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, awarded by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

.Past Recipients for the Computer Entrepreneur Award
.

. Accessed December 31, 2010. On October 15, 2010, the

Marconi Society The Guglielmo Marconi International Fellowship Foundation, briefly called Marconi Foundation and currently known as The Marconi Society, was established by Gioia Marconi Braga in 1974 to commemorate the centennial of the birth (April 24, 1874) of he ...

co-awarded Geschke and Warnock the

Marconi Prize The Marconi Prize is an annual award recognizing achievements and advancements made in field of communications (radio, mobile, wireless, telecommunications, data communications, networks, and Internet). The prize is awarded by the Marconi Society ...

. On Sunday, May 20, 2012, Geschke delivered the

commencement speech A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...

at John Carroll University in

University Heights, Ohio University Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It borders Beachwood to the east, Cleveland Heights to the west, South Euclid to the north and Shaker Heights to the south. The population was 13,914 as of the 2020 Census. ...

, where he had been a mathematics professor early in his career and was awarded an honorary

doctorate of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...

.Wittenberg, Ed
"John Carroll University commencement among events this weekend in University Heights"
''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

''. Sun News. Accessed May 20, 2012.

Affiliations

Geschke served on the boards of the San Francisco Symphony, the

National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management Leadership Roundtable (formerly known as the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management) is a lay-led group born in the midst of the Catholic clergy's sex abuse scandal and dedicated to bringing better administrative practices to diocese ...

, the

Commonwealth Club of California The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone. Act ...

Tableau Software Tableau Software ( ) is an American interactive data visualization software company focused on business intelligence. It was founded in 2003 in Mountain View, California, and is currently headquartered in Seattle, Washington. In 2019 the comp ...

, the Egan Maritime Foundation, and the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club. He was also a member of the computer science advisory board at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1995, he was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

. In 2008, he was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. In 2010, he completed his term as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

. In 2012, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Personal life

Geschke was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and met his wife Nancy "Nan" McDonough at a religious conference on social action in the spring of 1961. They married in 1964. Both were graduates of Catholic institutions. In 2012 they received the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award from the

National Catholic Educational Association The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) is a private, professional educational membership association of over 150,000 educators in Catholic schools, universities, and religious education programs. It is the largest such organization ...

(NCEA) for their contributions to Catholic education. Geschke's mother was a bankruptcy court paralegal. Both Geschke's father and paternal grandfather worked as

letterpress Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker com ...

photo engravers. Geschke's father helped during the early days of Adobe by checking

color separation Color printing or colour printing is the reproduction of an image or text in color (as opposed to simpler black and white or monochrome printing). Any natural scene or color photograph can be optically and physiologically dissected into three ...

work with his engraver's

loupe A loupe ( ) is a simple, small magnification device used to see small details more closely. They generally have higher magnification than a magnifying glass, and are designed to be held or worn close to the eye. A loupe does not have an attached h ...

. Geschke described his father's acknowledgment of the high quality of the halftone patterns as "a wonderful moment".

Death

Geschke, a longtime resident of Los Altos, died on April 16, 2021, at the age of 81. The cause of death was

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He is survived by his wife, three children and seven grandchildren.

References

External links

Biography at Computer History Museum

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
Image of Charles GeschkeOnline Copy of Geschke's PhD Thesis
on

DBLP DBLP is a computer science bibliography website. Starting in 1993 at Universität Trier in Germany, it grew from a small collection of HTML files and became an organization hosting a database and logic programming bibliography site. Since Novem ...

Profile
at the

ACM Digital Library The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...

*
The Legacy Of Chuck Geschke, Co-Founder Of Adobe
' April 26, 2021 Obituary on

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geschke, Charles American technology company founders Engineers from California 1939 births 2021 deaths Adobe Inc. people Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering National Medal of Technology recipients Carnegie Mellon University alumni Saint Ignatius High School (Cleveland) alumni Xavier University alumni Businesspeople from Cleveland Scientists from Cleveland People from Los Altos, California Scientists at PARC (company) Catholics from California Members of the American Philosophical Society