Aaron Harber
Encyclopedia
Aaron Harber is an American long-form political TV talk show host featured on KCDO-TV Channel 3 Colorado, COMCAST Entertainment Television, and KPXC-TV
(ION Media Networks), as well as on individual stations (such as TV Aspen). Aaron often writes columns for The Colorado Statesman, The Denver Daily News and the Huffington Post, and has served as an on-air, political analyst for the Denver CBS affiliate, CBS4 (KCNC-TV
), the CW2 Network, Tribune Broadcasting (KWGN-TV
Channel 2), and KBDI-TV Channel 12.
Through his shows, Harber tries to give everyone a fair chance to speak in a setting conducive to honest and candid discussion. As a result, His shows attract viewers from business, government, politics, and the media.
Harber does not use his shows as a forum to push his own ideas and views. Instead, he may often argue a case contrary to his own views in order to explore an issue with a guest. Harber’s philosophy is to consider as many views as possible and come to rational, thoughtful positions not bound by any particular partisan, "blind-faith" ideology.
Harber himself is an ardent defender of the First Amendment, an environmentalist and an equal rights advocate. He is a strong pro-business, free-market proponent. Unlike many other talk show hosts who give opinions about subjects they know little about, Harber has extraordinary firsthand experience and knowledge
about business, government, education, politics, the law, entertainment, media, and the press. His media activities are widely recognized for their consistent fairness, accessibility, and nonpartisan nature.
and executive producer
of The Aaron Harber Show a nonpartisan
, political TV Talk Show.
He is best known for his exclusive, long-form interviews with such guests as President Jimmy Carter
, Forbes, Inc.
CEO Steve Forbes
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III
, U.S. President Bill Clinton
, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist
, former United States Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright
, CBS Anchor Bob Schieffer
, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
, SHELL Oil President John Hofmeister and General David Petraeus
(the latter interviews conducted in Iraq and at the Pentagon)
In January 2010, Harber started a new local election series, Colorado Election 2010. The series focuses on showcasing candidates in Colorado's 2010 election season in a non-partisan setting.
In January 2008, Harber served as the executive producer of a new series, The Senate in Balance primarily designed as a public platform for incumbent Congressman Mark Udall
(D) and former Colorado Congressman Bob Schaffer
(R. Harber produced and hosted a seven-episode series documenting the 2008 Democratic National Convention
).
From 1998 through 2008, Harber has been an on-camera political analyst for CW2 of the CW Network (previously Tribune Broadcasting station KWGN and WB2 – part of the Warner Brothers Network) in Denver and across Colorado. During the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Harber – representing KBDI-TV Channel 12 – partnered with CBS4 (KCNC Channel 4) to provide 2½ hours of live, nightly coverage and analysis of the convention.
Harber writes on public affairs and economic issues for The Huffington Post. Harber is also a columnist for Colorado’s major political publication, The Colorado Statesman and also writes as a columnist for The Denver Daily News.
In 1994, he became host of "After the Rush". This program was initially framed as a humorous but cogent response to Rush Limbaugh
which quickly stopped paying attention to Limbaugh and, instead, tackled the issues of the day.
Harber gained national recognition when he was sued frivolously for $20 million by Rush Limbaugh, et al., for using the word "Rush" in the title of his national radio program ("After the Rush"). With broad-based support across the entire political spectrum, Aaron prevailed in the federal court case.
In 1997, the talk industry's leading publication Talkers Magazine selected Harber out of 5,000 hosts across the country as one of America's "100 Most Important Talk Show Hosts" (along with other hosts such as Don Imus
, G. Gordon Liddy
, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, Howard Stern
, and Bruce Williams).
In 1998, Aaron moved from the Talk America Radio Network (where he was heard on 51 radio stations across the country) exclusively into the television arena.
In 2000, he hosted the historic nonpartisan campaign series Election 2000, which was broadcast on over-the-air television (Colorado Public Television KBDI-TV 12) as well as on the internet, thanks to funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and a partnership with the Denver Post.
Two years later, Harber hosted the nonpartisan Election 2002 series on Colorado Public Television as a demonstration of how to promote unbiased election information as well as to provide citizens with extensive candidate access and election coverage.
Harber was a host on Colorado Decides 2004 when it became a joint venture of KCNC-TV (CBS4), KBDI-TV Channel 12, and the Rocky Mountain News. For Colorado Decides 2006 he was the host/moderator and/or the primary questioner for all 21 programs including "live" call-in shows. He reprised this role in 2008.
Harber's programs are now carried on a variety of channels, stations, and networks – from commercial stations such as Comcast Entertainment Television and KPXC-TV (part of ION Media Networks) to public television stations and Public-access television
cable TV channels as well as cable channels such as TV Aspen.
in San Francisco and was also elected to the Convention's original Credentials Committee. In addition to his 1984 delegate win, he was elected as a Presidential Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
s in Chicago (1996)
and Los Angeles (2000)
.
In 1982, Harber was a candidate for Secretary of State and later won his party's nomination in 1990. In both 1996 and 2000, he won election in a statewide party race to represent Colorado in the Electoral College.
Harber has served as a parliamentarian and secretary of numerous political assemblies and conventions, at the county, congressional, and state level. He was elected chair of State Senate District 17 and Vice Chair of House District 31, and has held many other elected party positions – ranging from Precinct Committee person to Caucus Chair and Secretary to County, Congressional, State, and National delegates. He has held no partisan position since 2000 due to his work in the media.
A staunch supporter of the concept of public disclosure, "sunshine" laws, and Open Records Acts, Harber fought a precedent-setting battle against the State of Colorado in 1982 in which the Secretary of State ultimately was required to release public information in its most usable form (i.e. electronic).
A decade later, in 1993, he won a case against another government entity (the Northern Colorado Water Conservatory District – NCWCD) which had tried to use the law and the cost of litigation to hide important public information. In 1994, at the request of the Sierra Club
, he agreed to intervene in a case against the NCWCD filed by the Sierra Club by formally supporting the Club's position in a joint filing.
Colorado Governor Roy Romer appointed Harber to the Colorado Department of Law's Collection Agency Board (CAB) in the Office of the Attorney General in 1988. Harber served there under both the Democratic and Republican Attorneys General and promoted many improvements on behalf of consumers. He was elected in 1989 as the first public member ever to serve as chairman of the CAB. In 1990, he was appointed by the Governor to serve as a business representative on the State's Complete Count Committee for the 1990 US Census.
Despite his history of political activism, Harber is known for his fairness and the equal access he has provided Republicans to all his radio and TV shows, including his unique broadcasts from the 1996 Republican National Convention
. He has broadcast his show "live" from places as disparate as the Democratic Leadership Council to the White House Press Room to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado.
He then was graduated from Princeton University
with an AB, and received a special certificate from The Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, where he concentrated in Economics.
At Princeton, Aaron became the first person in the then 220-year history of the University to win the two awards for being the person who did the most for his class (the W. Sanderson Detwiler 1903 Prize) and the most for the University (the Class of 1901 Medal).
Aaron Harber received a Master's Degree in Public Administration
(MPA) from Harvard University
's John F. Kennedy School of Government
, where he concentrated in ethics
in business, government, and politics. At Harvard, Harber also examined campaign finance laws and election practices in all 50 states.
Harber was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton University. He served on a number of major committees involving the University's governance and also was a member of Princeton's Department of Civil & Geological Engineering's Advisory committee.
Harber served as chairman of Centre Entertainment, Inc., a video production
, film production and distribution company (A Norman Rockwell Christmas Story and Legend Of The Spirit Dog; the latter was the first dramatic, live-action feature film made by Discovery Communications
). Harber served as president of Wild Horse Productions, Inc., a company originally formed to develop a feature film to be entitled, Wild Horses for Animal Planet
and Discovery Communications, for which a complete script received funding and final approval.
In the early 1990s, Harber was a co-founder and chairman of the Women’s Equity Fund, a nationally-recognized, experimental venture capital firm assisting women and men start new businesses and expand existing ones. Harber focused on challenging established thinking to expand the access women had to business capital.
For over thirty years, Harber has served as president of the American Research Corporation, where his work has included strategic planning, research, business advisory services, organizational consulting, public opinion polling, and computer software. He has managed software development projects, served private and public sector clients domestically and internationally, and participated in state and federal government projects.
Harber was a co-founder and served as president and chairman of Silicon Valley software company TeamOne Systems (in the Apollo, Digital, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems markets) which tackled the national need to automate the writing of computer software.
He was elected as chairman of the innovative fiber-optic large-display company Mall TV, Inc. and served as chairman of one of the nation’s first retail virtual reality companies, V-Space, Inc.
Harber has chaired numerous domestic and international events and has appeared as a public speaker, moderator, and facilitator. He mediates crises and advises numerous organizations pro bono.
Harber has served as a member of the national board of the Prostate Cancer Education Council. His greatest contribution to helping fight cancer came in 2006 when he directed General Colin Powell in the production of four nationally-broadcast television Public Service Announcements encouraging men to get tested for cancer. These productions also represented Harber’s directorial debut.
Harber was co-director of the Chicano Film Project, which produced the film, Los Inmigrantes. He has worked as a volunteer for ECO-CYCLE and as a Relief House Parent for Attention Homes, an alternative to jail for young offenders.
Three decades ago, Harber was the first (and then only) male ever elected to the board of directors of the Boulder County Women's Resource Center and for decades has been a strong proponent of equal rights for women.
Harber has served on the Accountability Committee for his daughter’s public school, Peak to Peak, and has worked as a volunteer serving food in the school’s cafeteria.
During the time he had been registered as an Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Harber extensively donated his financial and tax advisory services to men and women starting businesses as well as to charitable organizations on a pro bono basis. He continues to informally advise many groups today, also at no charge.
Harber pioneered the vision for the Golden Run community in Erie, Colorado --- a zero net energy, zero net waste, environmentally sustainable, Climate Change-sensitive standalone community --- as an example of a modified New Urbanism development imaginatively designed to create a walkable, economically sustainable, environmentally friendly multi-generational neighborhood. Golden Run’s design focuses on the needs of mature adults, senior citizens in their later years, young families, the disabled, and people requiring special care levels. The concept is to create a community where people can live, work, play, recreate, shop, and enjoy life together --- and all in an ecologically sound manner.
KPXC-TV
KPXC-TV, channel 59, is a television station licensed to Denver, Colorado that broadcasts on UHF channel 43. The station is an affiliate of the ION Television network in Denver, Colorado and is owned and operated by ION Media Networks.-History:...
(ION Media Networks), as well as on individual stations (such as TV Aspen). Aaron often writes columns for The Colorado Statesman, The Denver Daily News and the Huffington Post, and has served as an on-air, political analyst for the Denver CBS affiliate, CBS4 (KCNC-TV
KCNC-TV
KCNC-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated station television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by CBS Television Stations, Inc. KCNC broadcasts on UHF channel 35 from Lookout Mountain near Golden, Colorado.- Digital programming :...
), the CW2 Network, Tribune Broadcasting (KWGN-TV
KWGN-TV
KWGN-TV, virtual channel 2 , is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with the CW Television Network...
Channel 2), and KBDI-TV Channel 12.
Media
Since 1992, Aaron Harber has worked extensively in the media as a host, producer, political and economic commentator, and columnist. "The Aaron Harber Show TM "is the focus of Harber’s media involvement. In addition to this program, Harber has also hosted several other public affairs programs including "The Senate in Balance, TM" "Denver 2008: The 2008 Denver Democratic National Convention Series TM," "The Energy Roundtable TM," the Truth in Political Advertising Project, and most recently the "Colorado Election 2010 TM" election series.Contrarian programming approach
As others have noted, Harber’s approach to broadcasting differs from most political talk shows, which are loud and rancorous. Rather, his program attempts to provide a forum for "accuracy and truth via mutually respectful discourse" in a format in diametric opposition to television’s addiction to the generation of gratuitous conflict, false controversy, polarization, and unfounded personal attacks.Through his shows, Harber tries to give everyone a fair chance to speak in a setting conducive to honest and candid discussion. As a result, His shows attract viewers from business, government, politics, and the media.
Harber does not use his shows as a forum to push his own ideas and views. Instead, he may often argue a case contrary to his own views in order to explore an issue with a guest. Harber’s philosophy is to consider as many views as possible and come to rational, thoughtful positions not bound by any particular partisan, "blind-faith" ideology.
Harber himself is an ardent defender of the First Amendment, an environmentalist and an equal rights advocate. He is a strong pro-business, free-market proponent. Unlike many other talk show hosts who give opinions about subjects they know little about, Harber has extraordinary firsthand experience and knowledge
about business, government, education, politics, the law, entertainment, media, and the press. His media activities are widely recognized for their consistent fairness, accessibility, and nonpartisan nature.
The Aaron Harber Show
Aaron is the hostPresenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of The Aaron Harber Show a nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
, political TV Talk Show.
He is best known for his exclusive, long-form interviews with such guests as President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, Forbes, Inc.
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
CEO Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996...
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III
Robert Mueller
Robert Swan Mueller III is the 6th and current Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation .-Early life:...
, U.S. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
Bill Frist
Bill Frist
William Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
, former United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...
, CBS Anchor Bob Schieffer
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
, SHELL Oil President John Hofmeister and General David Petraeus
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...
(the latter interviews conducted in Iraq and at the Pentagon)
In January 2010, Harber started a new local election series, Colorado Election 2010. The series focuses on showcasing candidates in Colorado's 2010 election season in a non-partisan setting.
In January 2008, Harber served as the executive producer of a new series, The Senate in Balance primarily designed as a public platform for incumbent Congressman Mark Udall
Mark Udall
Mark Emery Udall is the senior United States Senator from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party. From 1999 to 2009, Udall served in the United States House of Representatives, representing . He also served a term in the Colorado House of Representatives.Born in Tucson, Arizona, he is the...
(D) and former Colorado Congressman Bob Schaffer
Bob Schaffer
Robert Warren "Bob" Schaffer was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Colorado in the 105th Congress and the two succeeding Congresses . In 2004, Schaffer lost in the primary election to be the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat...
(R. Harber produced and hosted a seven-episode series documenting the 2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
The United States 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...
).
From 1998 through 2008, Harber has been an on-camera political analyst for CW2 of the CW Network (previously Tribune Broadcasting station KWGN and WB2 – part of the Warner Brothers Network) in Denver and across Colorado. During the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Harber – representing KBDI-TV Channel 12 – partnered with CBS4 (KCNC Channel 4) to provide 2½ hours of live, nightly coverage and analysis of the convention.
Harber writes on public affairs and economic issues for The Huffington Post. Harber is also a columnist for Colorado’s major political publication, The Colorado Statesman and also writes as a columnist for The Denver Daily News.
Early broadcast career
Aaron Harber’s first stint in broadcasting was in 1992 as the host of The WatchDog, a political issues, consumer affairs, and citizens' rights program on the Talk of the Rockies Network.In 1994, he became host of "After the Rush". This program was initially framed as a humorous but cogent response to Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
which quickly stopped paying attention to Limbaugh and, instead, tackled the issues of the day.
Harber gained national recognition when he was sued frivolously for $20 million by Rush Limbaugh, et al., for using the word "Rush" in the title of his national radio program ("After the Rush"). With broad-based support across the entire political spectrum, Aaron prevailed in the federal court case.
In 1997, the talk industry's leading publication Talkers Magazine selected Harber out of 5,000 hosts across the country as one of America's "100 Most Important Talk Show Hosts" (along with other hosts such as Don Imus
Don Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
, G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
, and Bruce Williams).
In 1998, Aaron moved from the Talk America Radio Network (where he was heard on 51 radio stations across the country) exclusively into the television arena.
In 2000, he hosted the historic nonpartisan campaign series Election 2000, which was broadcast on over-the-air television (Colorado Public Television KBDI-TV 12) as well as on the internet, thanks to funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and a partnership with the Denver Post.
Two years later, Harber hosted the nonpartisan Election 2002 series on Colorado Public Television as a demonstration of how to promote unbiased election information as well as to provide citizens with extensive candidate access and election coverage.
Harber was a host on Colorado Decides 2004 when it became a joint venture of KCNC-TV (CBS4), KBDI-TV Channel 12, and the Rocky Mountain News. For Colorado Decides 2006 he was the host/moderator and/or the primary questioner for all 21 programs including "live" call-in shows. He reprised this role in 2008.
Harber's programs are now carried on a variety of channels, stations, and networks – from commercial stations such as Comcast Entertainment Television and KPXC-TV (part of ION Media Networks) to public television stations and Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV channels as well as cable channels such as TV Aspen.
Political activities and affiliations
Harber was elected secretary of the Colorado Democratic Party in 1983. He was elected as a Presidential Delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention1984 Democratic National Convention
The 1984 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California from July 16 to July 19, 1984, to select a candidate for the 1984 United States presidential election. At the convention Walter Mondale was nominated for President and Geraldine...
in San Francisco and was also elected to the Convention's original Credentials Committee. In addition to his 1984 delegate win, he was elected as a Presidential Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
s in Chicago (1996)
1996 Democratic National Convention
The 1996 Democratic National Convention of the was held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois from August 26 to August 29, 1996. Incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton was renominated for President of United States.-Site selection:...
and Los Angeles (2000)
2000 Democratic National Convention
The 2000 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention for the Democratic Party. The convention nominated Vice President Al Gore as its candidate for President and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as its candidate for Vice President. The convention was held at...
.
In 1982, Harber was a candidate for Secretary of State and later won his party's nomination in 1990. In both 1996 and 2000, he won election in a statewide party race to represent Colorado in the Electoral College.
Harber has served as a parliamentarian and secretary of numerous political assemblies and conventions, at the county, congressional, and state level. He was elected chair of State Senate District 17 and Vice Chair of House District 31, and has held many other elected party positions – ranging from Precinct Committee person to Caucus Chair and Secretary to County, Congressional, State, and National delegates. He has held no partisan position since 2000 due to his work in the media.
A staunch supporter of the concept of public disclosure, "sunshine" laws, and Open Records Acts, Harber fought a precedent-setting battle against the State of Colorado in 1982 in which the Secretary of State ultimately was required to release public information in its most usable form (i.e. electronic).
A decade later, in 1993, he won a case against another government entity (the Northern Colorado Water Conservatory District – NCWCD) which had tried to use the law and the cost of litigation to hide important public information. In 1994, at the request of the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, he agreed to intervene in a case against the NCWCD filed by the Sierra Club by formally supporting the Club's position in a joint filing.
Colorado Governor Roy Romer appointed Harber to the Colorado Department of Law's Collection Agency Board (CAB) in the Office of the Attorney General in 1988. Harber served there under both the Democratic and Republican Attorneys General and promoted many improvements on behalf of consumers. He was elected in 1989 as the first public member ever to serve as chairman of the CAB. In 1990, he was appointed by the Governor to serve as a business representative on the State's Complete Count Committee for the 1990 US Census.
Despite his history of political activism, Harber is known for his fairness and the equal access he has provided Republicans to all his radio and TV shows, including his unique broadcasts from the 1996 Republican National Convention
1996 Republican National Convention
The 1996 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, from August 12 to August 15, 1996...
. He has broadcast his show "live" from places as disparate as the Democratic Leadership Council to the White House Press Room to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Formal education
Aaron Harber was graduated first in his class and as valedictorianValedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado.
He then was graduated from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
with an AB, and received a special certificate from The Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, where he concentrated in Economics.
At Princeton, Aaron became the first person in the then 220-year history of the University to win the two awards for being the person who did the most for his class (the W. Sanderson Detwiler 1903 Prize) and the most for the University (the Class of 1901 Medal).
Aaron Harber received a Master's Degree in Public Administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
(MPA) from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
, where he concentrated in ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
in business, government, and politics. At Harvard, Harber also examined campaign finance laws and election practices in all 50 states.
Harber was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton University. He served on a number of major committees involving the University's governance and also was a member of Princeton's Department of Civil & Geological Engineering's Advisory committee.
Other activities
Throughout his career, Harber has been involved in numerous businesses ranging form survey research and high technology (where he organized software companies) to venture capital, talk radio, and movie and television production. Within days of being graduated from college, Harber started the Colorado Accounting & Tax Service.Harber served as chairman of Centre Entertainment, Inc., a video production
Video production
Video production is videography, the process of capturing moving images on electronic media even streaming media. The term includes methods of production and post-production...
, film production and distribution company (A Norman Rockwell Christmas Story and Legend Of The Spirit Dog; the latter was the first dramatic, live-action feature film made by Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications, Inc. is an American global media and entertainment company. The company started as a single channel in 1985, The Discovery Channel. Today, DCI has global operations offering 28 network entertainment brands on more than 100 channels in more than 180 countries in 39...
). Harber served as president of Wild Horse Productions, Inc., a company originally formed to develop a feature film to be entitled, Wild Horses for Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
and Discovery Communications, for which a complete script received funding and final approval.
In the early 1990s, Harber was a co-founder and chairman of the Women’s Equity Fund, a nationally-recognized, experimental venture capital firm assisting women and men start new businesses and expand existing ones. Harber focused on challenging established thinking to expand the access women had to business capital.
For over thirty years, Harber has served as president of the American Research Corporation, where his work has included strategic planning, research, business advisory services, organizational consulting, public opinion polling, and computer software. He has managed software development projects, served private and public sector clients domestically and internationally, and participated in state and federal government projects.
Harber was a co-founder and served as president and chairman of Silicon Valley software company TeamOne Systems (in the Apollo, Digital, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems markets) which tackled the national need to automate the writing of computer software.
He was elected as chairman of the innovative fiber-optic large-display company Mall TV, Inc. and served as chairman of one of the nation’s first retail virtual reality companies, V-Space, Inc.
Harber has chaired numerous domestic and international events and has appeared as a public speaker, moderator, and facilitator. He mediates crises and advises numerous organizations pro bono.
Harber has served as a member of the national board of the Prostate Cancer Education Council. His greatest contribution to helping fight cancer came in 2006 when he directed General Colin Powell in the production of four nationally-broadcast television Public Service Announcements encouraging men to get tested for cancer. These productions also represented Harber’s directorial debut.
Additional community and volunteer involvement
In addition to those contributions already cited, Harber’s community involvement has included fundraising for the University of Colorado, serving as the first president and chairman of the Nancy Spanier Dance Theatre of Colorado, working as a Volunteer Probation Counselor for the City and County Courts of Denver, and serving on the board of directors of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra.Harber was co-director of the Chicano Film Project, which produced the film, Los Inmigrantes. He has worked as a volunteer for ECO-CYCLE and as a Relief House Parent for Attention Homes, an alternative to jail for young offenders.
Three decades ago, Harber was the first (and then only) male ever elected to the board of directors of the Boulder County Women's Resource Center and for decades has been a strong proponent of equal rights for women.
Harber has served on the Accountability Committee for his daughter’s public school, Peak to Peak, and has worked as a volunteer serving food in the school’s cafeteria.
During the time he had been registered as an Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Harber extensively donated his financial and tax advisory services to men and women starting businesses as well as to charitable organizations on a pro bono basis. He continues to informally advise many groups today, also at no charge.
Harber pioneered the vision for the Golden Run community in Erie, Colorado --- a zero net energy, zero net waste, environmentally sustainable, Climate Change-sensitive standalone community --- as an example of a modified New Urbanism development imaginatively designed to create a walkable, economically sustainable, environmentally friendly multi-generational neighborhood. Golden Run’s design focuses on the needs of mature adults, senior citizens in their later years, young families, the disabled, and people requiring special care levels. The concept is to create a community where people can live, work, play, recreate, shop, and enjoy life together --- and all in an ecologically sound manner.