Arnold Davidson Dunton, (July 4, 1912 – February 7, 1987) was a
Canadian educator and public administrator, from 1943 to 1958 chairman of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Early life and career
He was educated at the
High School of Montreal and
Lower Canada College
Lower Canada College (LCC) is an English-language elementary and secondary level independent school located in Montreal, Quebec. The school offers education from Kindergarten through Grade 11. Students graduate from Grade 11 and then have the optio ...
,
Montréal, completing his secondary education at the age of fifteen. Too young to attend a Canadian university, for four years he travelled and attended courses in
France,
Britain, and
Germany. On his return, he worked as a reporter on the ''
Montreal Star''.
[Rick Helmes-Hayes, ''Measuring the Mosaic: An Intellectual Biography of John Porter'' (University of Toronto Press, 2010), p. 181] He was the paper's associate editor, 1937–38, and was editor of its sister paper the Montréal ''Saturday Standard'' in 1938. He joined the Wartime Information Board in 1942 and was general manager 1944-45. In late 1945, at age 33, he was appointed the first full-time chairman of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Throughout the controversies that arose over the funding and regulation of the new medium of
television, Dunton was a persuasive defender of the corporation's independence and a strong advocate of the need to fund publicly a television system. Shortly after the CBC completed its network from coast to coast in July 1958, he resigned and became president of
Carleton University. His post as CBC chairman was replaced by
Alphonse Ouimet
Joseph-Alphonse Ouimet, (June 12, 1908 – December 20, 1988) was a Canadian television pioneer and president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) from 1958 to 1967
Born in Montreal, he received a degree in electrical engineering fr ...
. Dunton was widely commended for the tact and intelligence with which he had overseen the development of CBC television.
Marc Thibault Marc or MARC may refer to:
People
* Marc (given name), people with the first name
* Marc (surname), people with the family name
Acronyms
* MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging,
* MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...
who directed the News and Public Affairs (1968-1981) at
Société Radio-Canada (CBC French Network), built on Davidson Dunton's vision to bring qualitative and quantitative rigour (formative and summative evaluation) in assessing coast-to-coast equity and content impartiality, especially during federal and provincial elections.
He was appointed by Prime Minister
Lester Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968.
Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...
co-chairman, (with
André Laurendeau), of the
Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1963, which has profoundly influenced federal government language policies. He stepped down as Carleton's president in 1972 to become director of the Institute of Canadian Studies at Carleton (1973–78) and later fellow of the Institute. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada and received honorary diplomas from seven Canadian universities. The Dunton Tower at Carleton University is named in his honour.
Honours
* 1954 -
honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the
University of Saskatchewan.
* 1959 - honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the
University of British Columbia.
* 1970 - he was invested as a Companion of the
Order of Canada.
* 1977 - honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the
University of New Brunswick.
References
Article from the Canadian Encyclopedia
1912 births
1987 deaths
University of Saskatchewan alumni
Presidents of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
20th-century Canadian civil servants
Companions of the Order of Canada
High School of Montreal alumni
Academics from Montreal
Presidents of Carleton University
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