Stephen Wilhite, creator of the GIF, dies at 74

New Delhi: Stephen Wilhite, the creator of the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) format in the 1980s, died due to Covid-19 related issues. Wilhite, one of America Online's primary architects, died on March 14 — just days after his 74th birthday which was on March 3.

"Even with all his accomplishments, he remained a very humble, kind, and good man," his obituary page said. Wilhite devised the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, in 1987 while working at Compuserve. Years later, his innovation became the principal means of expressing emotion and memetic communication on various social media platforms.

The Oxford American Dictionary named GIF the word of the year in 2012. He was honoured with a Webby Lifetime Achievement award in 2013.



The internet has argued how to pronounce GIF over the years. When he received the Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, he put an end to the argument. It's pronounced "jif", he communicated using a GIF.

According to his obituary note, Wilhite is survived by his wife, four stepchildren, a son, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.