Thomas Ide

Thomas Ranald "Ran" Ide, (February 20, 1919 – October 23, 1996) was a Canadian educator and the founding Chairman of TVOntario.

Biography

Born in Ottawa, he received a degree in economics and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

Ide first got involved in broadcasting while he was a teenager in Saint John, New Brunswick and had an after school job doing movie reviews at a radio station.

After the war, he became a high school teacher in Port Arthur, Ontario and eventually became principal of Port Arthur Collegiate Institute and then, in 1965, superintendent of schools in the area.

In 1966, he was appointed director of educational television at the Ontario Ministry of Education by then Minister of Education Bill Davis. His unit bought air time from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and produced 150 programs in the first year.

In 1995, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He died of leukemia in 1996. Former Premier Davis delivered a eulogy at Ide's memorial service.