Algonquin Alumnus and TV Broadcaster Blair H. Tetreault Honoured with Memorial Award

Posted on Thursday, October 21st, 2021

Algonquin College is pleased to announce the establishment of a student broadcasting award in honour of alumnus and Emmy Award winner Blair H. Tetreault, who passed away earlier this year.

The Blair H. Tetreault Memorial Award, made possible by a $109,000 endowed gift from his family, will provide an annual award of approximately $4,000 to a second-year student in the Broadcasting-Television Program.

Blair graduated in 1981 from the Broadcasting-Radio and Television program, following which he launched a prominent career spanning 40 years. Early in his career, he worked as an editor for news and public affairs programs at Ottawa CTV before transitioning to roles in live sports broadcasting. Among his many notable successes, Blair covered the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary for CTV, the men’s hockey tournaments at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics for CBS, and later worked in various broadcasting roles on NHL hockey games and on major soccer tournaments across North America. He and his crew won Emmy Awards for their coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympics coverage and the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final in 2015.

Following Blair’s passing in June, his family decided to honour his memory with an award for students following in his footsteps in Algonquin’s Broadcasting-Television program. “We wanted to give back because the College afforded Blair the opportunity to have such a wonderful career,” said his brother, David Tetreault.

Each year, the Blair H. Tetreault Memorial Award will honour a second-year student who earned a minimum 3.6 GPA in the first year of the program, and who contributed meaningfully to a sense of collegiality among fellow students, professors, and others involved in the program.

“We stipulated those criteria because Blair was that kind of person,” said Blair’s wife, Louise Tetreault. “Not only was he strong technically, he shared a great deal of warmth and collegiality with his crew and made a point of mentoring people just getting started in their career. He was very motivated to help them with the technical aspects of the job and to introduce them to contacts within the business.”

Consequently, Blair earned a reputation among young colleagues as their “broadcasting dad.” This reputation literally extends to his son, Scott, who was inspired and supported by his father to pursue a career in broadcasting after he graduated from Algonquin College’s Broadcasting – Television program in 2009.

According to Claude Brulé, President and CEO of Algonquin College, “The Tetreault family has demonstrated tremendous generosity by investing such a substantial endowed gift to support the hopes and dreams of our learners. The award is a wonderful example of Algonquin College’s values of integrity, caring, learning, and respect.”

“We are honoured that the Tetreault family chose to support Algonquin students in Blair’s memory,” said Mark Savenkoff, Algonquin College’s Vice President, Advancement. “The Tetreault family’s generosity extends beyond our students to the people they will one day work with by promoting a valuable ethic of helping others to succeed.”

Learn more about supporting the Blair H. Tetreault Memorial Award.

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