Val O'Donovan

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Michael Valentine (Val) O'Donovan, C.M., D.Eng., P.Eng. (February 14, 1936 – February 5, 2005) was a Canadian businessman and Chancellor of the University of Waterloo.

Born in Cork, Ireland, he started working at Pye Telecommunications in 1959 after graduating as an electrical engineer from the Cambridge College of Technology. In 1962 he invented a new type of microwave multiplexer, and a paper he wrote describing the invention won the best paper award in the Journal of the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers. Soon after graduating he met Sheila and they were married in 1960.

In 1963 O'Donovan, his pregnant wife and their two infant sons immigrated to Canada where he joined RCA. By 1971, he was manager of RCA's satellite transponder department, which was responsible for designing the payloads used in the innovative Canada/United States communications technology satellite and the first domestic U.S. 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 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 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 by the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. In 1993 he received the Laurier Outstanding Business Leader Award from Wilfrid Laurier University. In 1995 the University of Waterloo awarded him the degree of Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa). In 2001 Val was awarded with the John H. Chapman Award from the Canadian Space Agency. In 2003 O'Donovan was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.

From 1997-2003 O'Donovan was Chancellor at the University of Waterloo where he relished giving degrees to many thousands of students, to each of whom he has 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 (lisaard.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.