1955 - - The appointment of Frederick Gordon Nixon to the position of Controller of Telecommunications of the Department was announced on August 18. Mr. Nixon fills the post vacated by G. C. W. Browne, who has retired on superannuation.

Born in Summerland, B. C. , Mr. Nixon graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1933 with his B. Sc. in electrical engineering. He was connected with radio research work with the National Research Council for the three years following graduation and joined the Radio Division of the Department of Transport in 1937. He was first associated with inductive interference investigation and later specialized in aviation radio.

Mr. Nixon has attended several international radio conferences for the Department of Transport, mainly in connection with aviation radio. He attended the International Civil Aviation Conference at Chicago in 1944 as adviser on communications with the Canadian delegation and has taken an active part in succeeding meetings of the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization.

In 1945 he attended the Commonwealth and Empire conference on Radio for Civil Aviation. In addition he has attended numerous national radio conferences. In 1951 he was appointed to the position of Assistant Controller of Telecommunications.

Frederick Gordon Nixon was born in Summerland, B.C. and graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1933 with a B. Sc. in electrical engineering.  Following three years with NRC he spent several months “engaged in radio investigations for the NRC” (Ottawa Citizen January 14, 1937) before joining the Radio Division of the Department of Transport in 1937. There he first worked on inductive interference investigation and later on aviation radio. In the 30`s, like most people working in radio communications at the time, he was a radio amateur and held the call VE3ABH. He provided technical advice to the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club.

Details of his assignments during WWII are not known, but his family recalls that at some point during the war he spent six months at Rivers, Manitoba, in connection with the development of radar to be used by pilots. Most likely his work was associated with aviation radio. In 1944 he attended the International Civil Aviation Conference in Chicago as a communications advisor and took an active part in the succeeding meetings leading to the creation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).  He attended the 1945 Commonwealth and Empire Conference on Radio for Civil Aviation and was communications advisor for DOT at numerous national and international meetings and conferences dealing with satellites and undersea cable systems.  In 1951 he was appointed Assistant Controller of Telecommunications filling the post held for many years by G.C.W. Browne, and became Director of the Telecommunications and Electronics Branch in 1957, which reflecting the growth of telecommunications, became the Government Telecommunication and Administration Bureau under his leadership in 1967.  When the Department of Communications was established in 1969 he lead, under the title of The Administrator, regulatory and telecommunications policy functions of the Department and thus can be regarded as one of the builders of the Canadian communications environment today. In his retirement he moved to Victoria, BC where he passed away, age 87, in June, 1999.

John Gilbert

23 January 2016

(Text of obituary missing)

Links   -   Liens

1955 - Telecom Head Retires - G. C. W. Browne

1955 - Retraite du Chef des télécoms - G. C. W. Browne

1955 - Radio Pioneer Retires - E. D. Hayman

1955 - E. D. Hayman - Un pionnier de la radio prend sa retraite

1956 - From the Dominion Experimental Farm in Ottawa to Almonte - Monitoring Station Moves to New Home

1960 - Major Reorganization of the Telecommunications Branch

1960 - Réorganisation majeure de la Division des Télécommunications