From 2000 to 2005, Ric Harris was vice president and general manager of WEWS-NewsChannel 5 in Cleveland. A Cleveland native, he attended John Carroll University, where he was a leader on two PAC championship basketball teams. He captained the team before graduating in 1986 with a degree in communications. Harris had deep roots in the city’s media communities, working in radio, newspapers, television and advertising before rising to lead WEWS’s news, information and entertainment operations. He served on the boards of several community and nonprofit organizations, including the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, Greater Cleveland Roundtable, Urban League of Greater Cleveland and John Carroll University. He is currently president and general manager of WVIT, an NBCUniversal television station operating in Hartford–New Haven, Connecticut.