Lionel Hurtubise, whose leadership expanded the frontiers of Canada’s telecommunications industry, is joining the Hall of Fame of the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA).
“Lionel Hurtubise was one of the leading figures of the past five decades in the development of Canada’s telecommunications infrastructure – companies, networks and vital research and industry associations,” said Norm Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of CIPA.
Hurtubise will be inducted November 1 during the 14th annual CIPA Gala Banquet. The CIPA Hall of Fame resides on the CIPA Web site at www.cipa.com.
A native of Montreal, Hurtubise began his career with the Canadian Marconi Company in 1953 and went on to build international manufacturers of telecommunications equipment. He became president of International Systcoms Ltd. in 1977 and took the company to a position of dominance in the Canadian mobile radiotelephone field.
He was instrumental in the formation of Westech Systems Ltd., a joint venture with Alberta Government Telephones, which developed Canada’s first cellular mobile telephone network. He was also founding president of the Ontario Centre for Microelectronics in Ottawa, a crown corporation of the Ontario government.
Hurtubise was appointed president and CEO of Ericsson Canada Inc. in 1986 and was subsequently chairman from 1994 until June 2005. Under his leadership, Ericsson Canada helped place Montreal as a primary location for IT research, development and manufacturing.
He is past chairman of the board of Societe Innovatech Grand Montreal and the Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM).
Hurtubise was a key figure in forging strategic relationships between Canadian universities and the telecommunications industry. He has honourary doctorates from Ryerson University, Universite de Montreal and Concordia University.
He is also a past member of the board of directors of the Universite du Quebec