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Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers Jr., (May 27, 1933 – December 2, 2008) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who served as the president and CEO of
Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
. He was the fifth- richest person in Canada in terms of net worth.


Life and career

Rogers was born in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, the son of Velma Melissa (Taylor) and radio pioneer and inventor Edward S. Rogers Sr. He was educated at
Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...
. He subsequently attended Trinity College in the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, graduating in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. When he was an undergraduate student, Rogers joined the
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...
fraternity. In 1979, he was named a ''Significant Sig'' by the fraternity – the 21st Canadian to be inducted. In 1960, while still a student at
Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...
, he bought all the shares in local radio station CHFI, which pioneered the use of FM at a time when only 5% of the Toronto households had FM receivers. By 1965, he was in the cable TV business. Rogers Communications was established in 1967 and grew into one of Canada's largest media conglomerates. His father, Edward S. Rogers Sr., is regarded as the founder of the company, although the radio station that he established, CFRB, is now owned by another Canadian company and competitor,
Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...
. Rogers had been the owner of the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
team since September 1, 2000, when Rogers Communications Inc. purchased 80% of the baseball club, with the
Labatt Brewing Company Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...
maintaining a 20% interest and the
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...
relinquishing its 10% share. He purchased the remaining 20% share from Labatt in 2003, and owned the team in full until his death. Moreover, the Blue Jays' home ballpark, SkyDome, was renamed
Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to t ...
in 2005 after Rogers' firm purchased the stadium (including naming rights).


Marriage and family

On September 25, 1963, Rogers married Loretta Anne Robinson. Her father was Roland Robinson, 1st Baron Martonmere, who was a British politician and later served as
Governor of Bermuda The governor of Bermuda (officially Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)) is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this arti ...
. Rogers and his wife had four children together: Lisa,
Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
, Melinda and Martha. He was a direct descendant of Timothy Rogers (1756–1834), a Quaker leader who founded Newmarket and Pickering in what is now Ontario.


Honours and awards

On October 25, 1990, Rogers was appointed to the grade of Officer 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 ...
. In 1990, Rogers received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
. In 2006, he was inducted into Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame, along with his father, Edward S. Rogers Sr. In 2010, Rogers was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for his role in the cellular industry.


Philanthropy

In 2000, Rogers and his wife Loretta gave to the University of Toronto. The landmark contribution was directed to the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, which named the ''Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering'' in honour of his father. The Rogers' gift allowed the faculty to establish the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate Scholarships, the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Undergraduate Scholarships, the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Chair in Engineering, the Velma M. Rogers Graham Chair in Engineering, the Rogers AT&T Wireless Communications Laboratories and the Rogers Scholarship Program. On May 29, 2007, Rogers and his wife made a gift of to
Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...
. The donation was directed towards the Faculty of Business, which was renamed the Ted Rogers School of Management at the donors' request. The majority of the gift will be used to establish 52 new undergraduate and graduate student awards and scholarships. The gift also aims to establish a new research chair to seed academic initiatives in management research. On November 20, 2014, the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research was launched after a gift from Rogers' family in his memory. It was at the time the largest private gift in Canadian health-care history. This Centre united The Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network and the University of Toronto in taking new approaches to how we diagnose, treat and prevent heart failure in adults and children. It is believed to be the world's first institute to bring together research, education and innovation in personalized medicine, stem cell research, bioengineering, regenerative medicine, digital health and advanced clinical care under one umbrella with a single focus.


Death and commemoration

Rogers suffered from
congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...
and died early on the morning of December 2, 2008, aged 75, at his home in Toronto. He was buried in the family plot at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto. His autobiography, penned with communications consultant and former business journalist Robert Brehl, was titled ''Relentless: The True Story of the Man Behind Rogers Communications'' and was released just 10 weeks before Rogers' death. On December 2, 2009, the first anniversary of his death, a northern section of Jarvis Street in Toronto which runs beside the Rogers Building was renamed Ted Rogers Way in his honour. From March 4 to 6, 2010, the first annual Ted Rogers Memorial Conference (TRMC) hosted by Ryerson University, the Ted Rogers School of Management, and the Ryerson Commerce Society took place to honour Rogers, inviting Canadian university students to learn more about the values and skills that Rogers possessed. The theme of the conference revolved around the acronym TED: Take risks. Embrace innovation. Defy the status quo.


See also

* Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting *
List of billionaires ''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking of people who are billionaires, i.e., they are considered to have a net worth of US$1 billion or more, by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March 1987. ...
* List of Upper Canada College alumni


References


External links


Memorial webpage
– Rogers Communications Inc.
Find A Grave – Ted Rogers
*

at
Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum that showcases historic and contemporary radio and television content. It is headquartered in Chicago. Museum locations (1987–present) The Museum of Broadcast Communications wa ...

Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People


– CBC episode of '' Life and Times''
Order of Canada citation

AP Obituary
in the ''
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.
''
Laureate award – Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame
(video)
Ted Rogers Memorial Conference

Edward S. Rogers Jr.

Canadian Communications Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Edward S. Jr. Canadian mass media owners Officers of the Order of Canada Toronto Blue Jays executives Businesspeople from Toronto Rogers Communications University of Toronto alumni Trinity College (Canada) alumni Lawyers in Ontario Canadian television executives Upper Canada College alumni Canadian billionaires Canadian sports businesspeople Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto 1933 births 2008 deaths Rogers family (Canada)