John G. Adler

1937 - 2016

John G. Adler
March 17, 1937 - June 1, 2016
North Palm Beach, Florida
John Adler died Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at his home in North Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife Cynthia Lewis at his side. He was 79 years old.
Mr. Adler was a renowned executive, leader, and pioneer of computer technology, from the engineering of mainframe computers at IBM in 1960 to his appointment as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Adaptec in the mid-1980s. Mr. Adler left a lasting mark on events and people in the San Francisco bay area, from development of the computer systems for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the 1960s, to the growth of Adaptec from a startup company to one of the world leaders in high performance disk storage for computers. He was an inspirational leader and mentor to executives who went on to lead numerous companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. John Adler was also one of the key industry leaders who fought the practice of frivolous lawsuits to extort millions of dollars from Silicon Valley companies in the 1990s. He testified at a Senate hearing on the issue and contributed to the elimination of this unfair practice and to the defeat of Proposition 211 in California in 1995.
A refugee of the Hungarian revolution in 1956, Mr. Adler arrived in the United States and was offered a scholarship by the University of Mississippi. Earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Mississippi in 1960, Mr. Adler began working for IBM, transferring to IBM's Advanced Computing Systems group in California in 1967. In 1970, Mr. Adler was named Sloan Fellow at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, earning a Masters of Business Degree. From 1981 to 1985, Mr. Adler held various senior level positions at Amdahl Corp., a key competitor of IBM founded by former IBM employees. He joined Adaptec as president in 1985 and was appointed CEO in 1986. In 1990, he was appointed chairman of the company's board of directors. John Adler also joined the board of MMC Networks in 1997. He served on the advisory council for the College of Engineering at San Jose State University and was on the advisory board of the Leavey School of Business Administration at Santa Clara University.
Mr. Adler never forgot the university that gave him the opportunity to start a new life in the United States. He made a significant donation to the University of Mississippi school of engineering to establish the John G. Adler Engineering Scholarship Endowment to give deserving engineering students the opportunity to further their education. To date, the John G. Adler Engineering Scholarship Endowment has helped over 350 scholars achieve their engineering degrees. In addition, he made several donations to the University of Mississippi Center for Mathematics and Science Education.
John Gabor Adler was born on March 17, 1937 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of Zsigmond and Katalin Adler. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia Lewis, his twin sister Julianna Csongor, nephew Robert Csongor, and niece Sandra Bollenbecker. He was preceded in death by his nephew, Randy Csongor.
John Adler battled pulmonary hypertension headstrong. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cleveland Clinic Philanthropy Institute In Memory of John Adler to support Dr. Rahaghi's respiratory/pulmonary research fund. Contributions should be made out to the Cleveland Clinic, attention to Britten King, Cleveland Clinic Florida, 2950 Cleveland Clinic Blvd, Weston, Florida 33331.


View the online memorial for John G. Adler