Ken Engelhart, BA'77

VP, Regulatory, Rogers Communications Inc.
Ken Engelhart

Ken Engelhart knows what you’re going to ask.

OK, so maybe the Rogers Communications’ regulatory (Canada) vice-president might not know your exact question, but he has a general idea of the topic. “Having Rogers on the business card, it’s like I am a walking customer service rep – clearing up pictures, taking care of dangling wires, you name it,” Engelhart laughed.

Engelhart has been doing that for Rogers, although in a far different capacity, for more than two decades. And he credits much of his success to those early days at Western.

Engelhart arrived at Western in 1973. “I just loved it from Day One,” he said. “Western was so beautiful, the students so friendly, the atmosphere so terrific.”

Like many first-year students, he walked onto campus without a clear view of the future. But it didn’t take long for that to clear.

“I was able to take a grab bag of things that first year,” he said. “All were very fun, very interesting and, at various times of the year, I thought I would major in Math or Psychology. But Economics seemed to solve real-world problems.

What he found in Economics were lessons not only inside, but outside the classroom. The economics professors were quite collegial, he said, often having off-hour beers and chats with the students. He remembers those talks, ones about public policy and issues of the day, still to this today.

“It was sort of like a second education. You had the education in the classroom,” he said. “And then you had this other, perhaps in a pub, where you would talk with these guys. Maybe you would say something stupid, and they would correct you across the table, and you really learned something.”

As graduation neared, Engelhart had started to grow tired of economics as it became too theoretical, not grounded enough in the real world.

Eventually, he would attend law school at the University of Toronto.

“I kind of arrived in law school fed up with economics, and really over it,” he said. “But I really found my love for it again in law school.”

Called to the bar in 1982, he joined a law firm in Hamilton, Ontario, on its regulatory litigation team. Soon after, Rogers would call and offer a job. At that time, the cable and broadcasting company was just getting into telecommunications and needed attorneys versed in the area.

Engelhart fit the bill. That was 22 years ago.

Today, Engelhart handles all of Roger’s regulatory agency interaction. In fact, the “fairly hands-on person” still enjoys going before regulatory agencies and arguing the case himself.

“I cannot seem to let that go,” he said.

And in this ever-changing, hectic environment, Engelhart harkens back to his days at Western often.

“I use my economics as much as I use my law,” he said. “Law doesn’t give you the tools to analyze public policy. But economics gives me an ability to crack open a problem. And Western gave me economics. I think I have had the ideal education.”