Michael Valentine (Val) O'Donovan, CM (February 14, 1936 – February 5, 2005) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

businessman and Chancellor of the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

. Born on Valentine's Day in 1936 in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, to parents Patrick Joseph and Mary Imelda (née O'Donnell). He started working at Pye Telecommunications in 1959 after graduating as an electrical engineer from the

Cambridge College of Technology Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of t ...

. He invented a new type of microwave multiplexe in 1962 and the paper he wrote about his work won the best paper award in the ''Journal of the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers''. O'Donovan met his future wife Sheila (1937-2019 shortly after graduating from college. The couple were married in 1960. Together they had four children: Simon, Christopher, Stephen and Caroline. In 1963, O'Donovan, immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with Sheila, then pregnant, and their two young sons. immigrated to

where he worked in RCA's communications division in Montreal. By 1971, he was manager of RCA's

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

transponder department, which was responsible for designing the payloads used in the innovative Canada/United States communications technology satellite and the first domestic United States satellites. Drawing on his expertise, he co-authored a book (with Chandra Kudsia) titled Microwave Filters for Communications Systems. After working in the satellite division at

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

in Montreal, Val, with two partners, founded COM DEV in 1972 and, under his guidance, it has become a global leader in satellite communications technology. On

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

in 1979, COM DEV, along with 44 families, moved to Cambridge, Ontario. Under Val's leadership COM DEV continued to thrive, and in 1996 became a publicly listed company (symbol CDV on the Toronto Stock Exchange). In 1998, O'Donovan retired as CEO of COM DEV but continued on as chairman of the board until December 2004. In 1992, O'Donovan was awarded the

McNaughton Gold Medal McNaughton or MacNaughton is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: MacNaughton * Alan Macnaughton (1903–1999), Canadian parliamentarian and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons * Anne MacNaughton, American poet * Charles MacNaug ...

by the

Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

. In 1993, he received the Laurier Outstanding Business Leader Award from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...

. In 1995, the

awarded him the degree of Doctor of Engineering (

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

). In 2001, Val was awarded with the John H. Chapman Award from the

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; ) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The President of the Canadian Space Agency, president is Lisa Campbell (civil servant), Lisa Campbell, who took ...

. In 2003, O'Donovan was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, Canada's highest civilian honour. From 1997 to 2003, O'Donovan was Chancellor at the

, where he relished giving degrees to many thousands of students, to each of whom he had something special to say. In 1998, O'Donovan and Sheila started a charitable foundation to establish a residential hospice in Waterloo Region for terminally ill cancer patients. In July 2000, Lisaard House (lisaardandinnisfree.com) was open for its first residents. O'Donovan's special interests included his rose garden, his bookshelves and his wine cellar. On February 5, 2005, O'Donovan died at his home in Bermuda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonovan, Val 1936 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Chancellors of the University of Waterloo Members of the Order of Canada Businesspeople from County Cork Irish electrical engineers Engineers from County Cork Irish emigrants to Canada

See also

References