Adobe Systems Founders Win 2010 Marconi Prize

The duo will be awarded the $100,000 Marconi Prize, considered the highest honor specifically devoted to information and communications science, on October 15th at the annual Marconi Awards Dinner at the Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park, CA.

The Marconi Society, established in 1975, annually recognizes a living scientist whose work in the field of communications and information technology advances the social, economic and cultural improvement of all humanity.

Geschke and Warnock met in the late 70’s in Silicon Valley where Geschke was a researcher and group manager in the computer science lab at Xerox PARC and Warnock worked for Evans & Sutherland at Ames Research Laboratory. In 1978, Geschke interviewed and hired Warnock for a position at PARC. From the start, their similar backgrounds and philosophies forged a close bond between them.

They soon were attracting the attention of Silicon Valley’s heavy hitters, including Steve Jobs, who offered them a considerable sum for their business. It only served to confirm the value of what they’d created. (When Jobs, realized they wouldn’t sell him the company, he instead invested $2.5 million in Adobe. Apple cashed out the stock six years later for $87 million.)

By the end of 1985, the market had embraced PostScript, which fundamentally improved the cost, productivity and efficiency of the graphic arts, printing and publishing businesses. Geschke and Warnock’s fledging company had taken communications to a new level and in little more than 10 years transformed the world of print communications from a manual, mechanical process to a digital work flow. Today all communications technologies are converting to digital and Adobe’s products continue to expand the technological frontiers of photography, video production, animation, digital communication and the World Wide Web. Its ubiquitous programs include, among others, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign, Adobe Premiere, and Adobe Flash.

Adobe’s success has grown over the decades. It acquired over 20 companies and invested in many more, always driven by the vision and collaboration between Warnock and Geschke.