Michael Valentine “Val” O’Donovan

Val O’Donovan was an engineer, entrepreneur, university chancellor and philanthropist, whose contribution and reputation locally, nationally, and internationally was very significant. O’Donovan founded Com Dev in 1974. This company became a world leader in satellite and wireless communications technology. He served as CEO until 1998 when he retired from that position but continued as Chairman of the Board until December 2004. He started the company in Montreal but moved it to Cambridge in 1979. It became a publicly listed company in 1996.

O’Donovan was also widely recognized for his outstanding community involvement and philanthropic endeavours. He served as Chancellor of the University of Waterloo from 1997-2000 and was subsequently named Chancellor Emeritus. He played a key role in the relocation of the university’s School of Architecture to Cambridge in 2004. In 1998 he and his wife Sheila established a charitable foundation to create Lisaard House, which opened in 2000, a residential hospice for terminally ill cancer patients.

O’Donovan received several distinguished honours in recognition of his many achievements. These included the McNaughton Gold Medal from the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 1992, a Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo in 1995, the John H. Chapman Award from the Canadian Space Agency in 2001 and the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour, in 2003.

O’Donovan was born in County Cork, Ireland on Valentine’s Day, 1936. He graduated as an electrical engineer from the Cambridge College of Technology in 1959. He married his wife Sheila in 1960 and they immigrated to Canada in 1963 with their two infant sons. A third son and a daughter were born in Canada. Val worked in the satellite division at RCA in Montreal prior to founding Com Dev along with two partners in 1974. He died in Bermuda on February 5, 2005.