Alphonse Ouimet

Who was Alphonse Ouimet?

J. Alphonse Ouimet, CC was a Canadian television pioneer and president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1958 to 1967.

Born in Montreal, he received a degree in electrical engineering from McGill University in 1932. In 1932, he helped design, build and demonstrate the first Canadian television set. In 1934, he joined the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, which became the CBC, and was responsible for setting up and running CBC's national radio service. He was involved in launching television broadcasting on the CBC.

After retiring from the CBC, he became, in 1969, chairman of Telesat Canada, which built and launched many of Canada's communications satellites. He retired in 1980.

In 1968, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.