Alan Webber

Alan Webber
43rd Mayor of Santa Fe
Assumed office
March 12, 2018
Preceded by Javier Gonzales
Personal details
Born (1948-09-18) September 18, 1948
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)
Frances Diemoz (m. 1977)
Children 2
Residence Santa Fe, New Mexico
Alma mater Amherst College

Alan M. Webber (born September 18, 1948) is an American entrepreneur, author and politician serving as the 43rd Mayor of Santa Fe since 2018.[1] Webber succeeded Javier Gonzales in a landslide victory. Considered a progressive Democrat, he supports social liberalism.

Previous to his assumption of the mayoralty, he ran unsuccessfully for Governor of New Mexico as a member of the Democratic Party during the 2014 primary elections. Webber is also known for founding the technology business magazine, Fast Company in 1995.

Early life and education

Webber's father was a camera salesman.[2] Webber started school at DeMun School in Clayton, Missouri, and later attended St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis. He went on to graduate from Amherst College with a B.A. in English. While an employee of Harvard Business School, Webber worked with faculty on Changing Alliances, a book-length study of the competitiveness of the U.S. auto industry.[3][2]

Early career

After graduating from Amherst, Webber moved to Portland, Oregon where he worked at a start-up political journal, The Oregon Times.[4] Subsequently, he served in the office of then-Portland City Council member Neil Goldschmidt and continued as his administrative assistant and policy advisor when he became Mayor of Portland in 1972. The years Webber spent working alongside Goldschmidt resulted in Webber identifying Goldschmidt as his dear friend and mentor.[5]

Beginning in 1978, Webber served as editorial page editor of the alternative Oregon weekly newspaper, Willamette Week, where he received an Oregon State Newspaper Publisher’s Association Award for news and feature writing.[6]

In 1980, Webber and his family moved to Washington, DC, when Goldschmidt was named Secretary of Transportation in the Carter administration. While working as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation, Webber worked on the Chrysler Corporation bailout, the crisis in the U.S. auto industry, and overall national economic competitiveness issues.[7]

Webber worked at the Harvard Business School in 1981 as a senior research assistant and project coordinator on the auto industry in America. The project culminated in a book called Changing Alliances.[8] He went on to serve for six years as managing editor and editorial director of the Harvard Business Review,[7] during which time the publication was twice named a finalist for National Magazine Awards.[9]

In 1995, Webber co-founded the technology business magazine, Fast Company, where he was named Adweek's Editor of the Year in 1999.[7][10] In 2000, investors sold Fast Company for $360 million, which was at the time the second highest price ever paid for a U.S. magazine.[11] In 2014 Webber unsuccessfully ran for Governor of New Mexico as a member of the Democratic Party.[12] Following his run for Governor, Webber founded One New Mexico, a solution-oriented nonprofit aimed at advancing New Mexico's economic outlook, nurturing entrepreneurship and innovation and connecting New Mexicans statewide.[13]

Webber worked as a speechwriter and policy advisor for several governors, including Massachusetts Governor (and later Democratic Presidential candidate) Michael Dukakis.[14]

Since 2010 he is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Upper Austrian Think Tank ACADEMIA SUPERIOR – Institute for Future Studies.[15]

Publications

  • (co-author) Changing Alliances - The Harvard Business School Project On The Auto Industry And The American Economy, 1987, ISBN 978-0071032308
  • (co-author) Going Global, 1996, ISBN 978-0670863082
  • Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self, 2009, paperback ed. 2010 ISBN 978-0061721847
  • The Global Detective, 2010, Kindle eBook
  • (co-author) Life Reimagined: Discovering Your New Life Possibilities, 2013, ISBN 978-1609949327

He has also written columns and articles for The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, U.S.A. Today, Huffington Post, The New York Times Sunday Magazine and The Washington Post. Life Reimagined was featured in Forbes as one of "The Best New Books For Your Career".[16]

Awards and recognition

Webber received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Boston Architectural College.[17]

Personal life

Webber married Frances Diemoz, an architect and furniture maker, in 1977. In 2003, they moved to New Mexico. They have two children, Adam and Amanda Webber.

References

  1. ↑ "Webber elected Santa Fe Mayor".
  2. 1 2 "Alan Webber for NM Governor". Democracy for America. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  3. ↑ Dyer, Davis; Salter, Malcolm S.; Webber, Alan M. (1987). Changing Alliances. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 9780875841755. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Alan Webber: Editor, Author, Columnist". Business Innovation Factory. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Steve Duin blog: Neil Goldschmidt remains an issue in Alan Webber's gubernatorial run in New Mexico". OregonLive.com. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Willamette Week". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Alan Webber". Fast Company. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Alan Webber". Leigh Bureau. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Alan Webber's Page". Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Fast Company's Bill Taylor and Alan Webber Named Adweek's 'Editors of the Year'". PR Newswire. March 6, 2000. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  11. ↑ David, Carr. "The Media Business: Advertising; Fast Company's New Life in the Slow Lane". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Santa Fe Democrat could shake up governor's race - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Local News". The Santa Fe New Mexican. May 24, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  13. ↑ "One New Mexico Contact Page". Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Archives". The Dallas Morning News. Nl.newsbank.com. June 28, 1999. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  15. ↑ Academia Superior - Academic Advisory Board. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  16. ↑ Nancy Collamer (February 21, 2014), The Best New Books For Your Career, Forbes.com
  17. ↑ "Boston Architectural College 2012 Honorary Degree Recipients". Boston Architectural College. May 26, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
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