Rita Shelton Deverell, CM (born 1945 to Versie and Hugh Shelton) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

television broadcaster and social activist, who was one of the founders of the Canadian television channel Vision TV. She also served as news director for the

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, stylized aptn) is a Canadian specialty channel. Established in 1992 and maintained by governmental funding to broadcast in Canada's northern territories, APTN acquired a national broadcast licen ...

from 2002 to 2005. Born in Houston, Texas, Deverell moved to Canada in 1967, and began her television career in 1972 as the producer of a children's television program. In 1974, she joined CBC Television as a journalist, including a stint with the program ''

Take 30 ''Take 30'' (also expressed as ''Take Thirty'') was a Canadian television newsmagazine series, which aired on CBC Television from 1962 to 1984 for 2,500 episodes. An afternoon series originally designed as a "women's show", the series gradually ev ...

''. In 1983, she left to become a journalism professor at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...

, and in 1988 she left there to become one of the founders of Vision TV. In addition to working as an executive with Vision TV, she also hosted numerous interstitial segments between programs, and was noted for often wearing a

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

in her hair when hosting these segments. She has also been a board member of Obsidian Theatre Company, a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

company which specializes in Black Canadian drama. In 2021 she was named the chancellor of

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

."Rita Shelton Deverell named Lakehead's new chancellor"
'' Orillia Matters'', October 1, 2020.

Awards

* Deverell has been named to the ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'' Honour Roll of Outstanding Canadians, and to the

Canadian Association of Broadcasters The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa. It was first ...

Hall of Fame. * She was named a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 2005. * She was named

ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...

's Woman of the Year in 2018. * She has been awarded two

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Norther ...

Works

Rita has written one book, ''American Refugees: Turning to Canada for Freedom''.

References

External links

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network homepage

Rita's personal blog

Interview Deverell for ''Take 30'' Access
1981, CBC YouTube. 1945 births Living people Canadian television journalists Canadian television hosts Canadian activists Canadian women activists Members of the Order of Canada Black Canadian broadcasters American expatriates in Canada People from Houston Canadian television executives Women television executives Canadian women television journalists Black Canadian women Canadian women television hosts Canadian university and college chancellors {{Canada-tv-bio-stub