Bill Atkinson, Apple employee #51, passed away on Thursday, June 5, 2025, from pancreatic cancer. He was 74 years old.

Atkinson was a critical member of the Macintosh development team, where he created HyperCard, the QuickDraw toolbox, and the MacPaint program. He was also the principal developer and designer of the Apple Lisa GUI.

His death was originally shared online by his family on Facebook. It has since been reported by such outlets as WIRED, AppleInsider, Daring Fireball, and The New York Times.

Editor & publisher of Juiced.GS, the Apple II community's longest-running print publication dedicated to the Apple II; co-host of the Star Trek podcast Transporter Lock; digital nomad at Roadbits.