Ted Rogers donates $35 million to U of T and Ryerson Polytechnic

Ontario-based university research into electrical and computer engineering and advanced communications received a $35-million boost with two donations from Ted and Loretta Rogers of the Rogers communications empire, which could lever another $40 million from federal, provincial and academic sources. The Univ of Toronto will receive $25 million, with the remaining $10 million going to Ryerson Polytechnic Univ.

The Rogers made the donation in honour of the late Edward Rogers Sr, who invented the batteryless radio tube and founded a Canadian communications dynasty. At the U of T, the donation will result in the permanent naming of the Edward S Rogers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Endowed funds for undergraduate and graduate scholarships will receive $18 million. Income from the endowment will be matched by the university and partially matched by the Ontario Graduate Scholarships Fund, creating a minimum of 85 awards valued at $20,000 annually.

Another $4 million will be used to create two endowed departmental chairs, while the remaining $3 million will be used to equip the Rogers A&T Wireless Communications laboratories for research into wireless technologies.

At Ryerson, the Rogers donation will establish the Edward S Rogers Graduate School for Advanced Communications. The university will use $6 million to fund graduate fellowships at $20,000 each, with a minimum of 15 annually. With the remaining $4 million, two research chairs in emerging areas of communications will be established and will help support planning of graduate programs.

Up to five graduate programs will be created, the first being an MA and PhD program in communication and culture. Ryerson is also seeking to lever the donation with funding from a variety of other sources, including the Ontario Graduate Scholarships Program, the Premier's Research Excellence Awards, the Ontario R&D Challenge Fund and the Ontario Innovation Trust, which supports university research infrastructure.

Ted Rogers Sr studied at the U of T and by age 25 invented the first alternating current radio tube, allowing radios to run on standard household current.

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