Yale School of Management - Alumni Leaders

"I can’t imagine a better fit with my values and aspirations than Yale SOM. The school stands out among management programs for its commitment to combining rigorous academic study with the wisdom and practicality of successful real-world entrepreneurs from all sectors. And super-charging the classroom experience are the people: faculty, staff and students. It’s an extraordinary network of friendships and expertise."

Jay Harris is the publisher of Mother Jones magazine and chief executive officer of Mother Jones' nonprofit parent, the Foundation for National Progress. During his tenure, the organization has built on its tradition of groundbreaking public interest reporting while growing circulation to unprecedented levels. By fall 2003, paid circulation of the magazine had reached 226,000, putting Mother Jones among the largest of American thought-leader magazines. In 2001, Mother Jones was awarded the National Magazine Award (NMA) for General Excellence, its fourth NMA. In 2003, the publication was again a finalist for that award.

Believing that Mother Jones' investigative content and its 28-year-old brand have importance and audience potential beyond print media, Jay has overseen the 1993 launch and development of MotherJones.com, Mother Jones' popular web site, and has negotiated deals to supply Mother Jones material to both "Inside Edition" and PBS's "Frontline." (The first hour-long documentary from Mother Jones Television, "Easy Money," a report on gambling money in politics, appeared on "Frontline" in June 1997.) Other media projects are pending.

Jay is a frequent radio and television guest, appearing on Talk of the Nation, C-Span and many other shows, and has been a featured speaker at conferences of the Social Venture Network, Greenfest, Bioneers and Businesses for Social Responsibility. He has taught magazine management at the University of California Graduate School of Journalism. His essay on the state of the news business "What’s Missing from Your News?" was published in The Business of Journalism (New Press, 2000). In 2000, at the suggestion of Yale SOM Professor Art Swersey and with his expert help, Mother Jones conducted an innovative experiment in direct mail testing, testing multiple variables simultaneously (going very much against the grain of conventional industry wisdom). The successful results and resulting case are part of Professor Swersey’s forthcoming book.

Jay is vice chair of the Independent Press Association and on the steering committee of the Magazine Publishers of America Independent Magazine Advisory Group (IMAG). He recently joined the board of advisors of Free Speech TV.

Before joining Mother Jones in 1991, Jay was general manager of Newsweek's Pacific edition, based in Hong Kong, with oversight of circulation programs in 24 Asian and South Pacific nations. Before that, from 1985 through 1988, he was publisher of the Asia edition of Travel & Leisure magazine. From 1982 to 1985, after graduating from the Yale School of Management, he worked in New York for Newsweek International where he was assistant director, then director of special projects. He holds a BA in English from Duke University and a master's in management from the Yale School of Management.

Jay is married to Marcia Cohen (MPPM ’82), who is assistant dean for fiscal affairs at the Stanford University School of Medicine. They have two daughters, Amelia and Charlotte.