Abraham Lempel passed away on February 4, 2023 at the age of 86. Together with Jacob Ziv, he developed the LZ77 and LZ78 universal compression algorithms. These algorithms paved the way for modern compression techniques widely used today, including the GIF and PNG image formats. 
 
Dr. Lempel's seminal contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the 1997 ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award,  the 1998 IEEE Information Theory Society Golden Jubilee Awards for Technological Innovation, and the 2007 IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal. Dr. Lempel founded HP Labs Israel in 1994 and served as its director until 2007.