Dan Harris (journalist)

WLBZ television

A 1993 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Harris began his career as an anchor for WLBZ in Bangor, Maine.

ABC News

Harris joined ABC News in 2000. He anchored World News Sunday from 2006 to 2011 and frequently anchors World News, ABC World News Tonight weekend editions and Nightline. He is also a frequent contributor to World News. He also anchored ABC's coverage of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. In October 2010, he was named the new co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America, succeeding Bill Weir. In October 2013, he was named a co-anchor for Nightline, succeeding Bill Weir.

Harris has reported on a series of events such as the mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, Aurora, Colorado and Tucson, Arizona, and has covered various natural disasters from the earthquake in Haiti to Myanmar to New Orleans. He has also reported on combat in Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, and has made six visits to Iraq. Domestically, Harris has led ABC News' coverage of faith, with a particular focus on the evangelical movement. He scored one of the first interviews with former pastor Ted Haggard after his sex and drugs scandal. In 2013, he covered the papal conclave at Vatican City, which elected Pope Francis.

In 2012, Harris anchored ABC News Digital's debate coverage for the presidential election. In 2014, he covered the shootings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and the opening of One World Trade Center in New York.

In addition to those events, Harris has also covered stories on exotic animals such as tigers, lions, clouded leopards and various types of lemurs.

Other ventures

On March 1, 2016, it was announced that Harris would become the host of the game 500 Questions, replacing Richard Quest.

Life changes

Harris' book, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Really Works – a True Story, was published in March 2014. Harris states that the issue that prompted his self-examination, which led him to write the book, was an on-air panic attack on June 7, 2004. In the book, Harris recounts how—with the help of various mental health professionals, religious leaders, self-help gurus, and news industry mentors—he stopped using drugs (cocaine and Ecstasy), discovered the benefits of meditation, and resolved the apparent conflict between meditation-induced equanimity and the aggressive competitiveness required for success as a TV-news journalist.

Meditation

Harris encourages use of meditation, and himself uses a method of watching the breath. His "10% Happier" podcasts are interviews with other meditators.

Personal life

Harris' father is Jay R. Harris, the chair of Harvard's radiation oncology residency program and recipient of the 2007 American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology Gold Medal. His mother, Nancy Lee Harris, is a pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and is a world authority on lymphomas. Harris' younger brother, Matthew Carmichael Harris, is a venture capitalist. He is married to Dr. Bianca Harris; they have a son named Alexander Robert Harris (born December 15, 2014). They have three cats: Steve, Gus and George. He currently identifies as a Buddhist. He also refers to himself as "half-Jewish and culturally Jewish."

Before he worked for ABC News, Harris was the original drummer for the rock band The Unband.

Awards

Harris has been honored several times for his journalistic contributions. He received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting on a young Iraqi man who received the help he needed in order to move to America, and in 2009 won an Emmy Award for his "Nightline" report, "How to Buy a Child in Ten Hours."

A graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Harris also holds honorary doctorate degrees from Colby and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.