John Stark, NPR Biography
General Manager, KNAU-FM
John Stark has been KNAU's general manager since September 1993. He has transformed KNAU into the seven-station Arizona Public Radio network based at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. It operates radio stations in Flagstaff, Prescott, Page, Grand Canyon, Show Low, and Kingman. Arizona Public Radio programming is also rebroadcast on Native American public radio stations KUYI Hopi Radio / Keams Canyon, KGHR / Tuba City on the Navajo Nation and KNNB on the White Mountain Apache Reservation.
At KNAU GM, Stark has developed numerous innovative projects and partnerships including the Indian Country News Bureau with Hopi Radio, the Commitment to Localism with three community colleges in Arizona, and a State Capitol Bureau in Phoenix. Stark was named Public Radio General Manager of the Year in 2000.
Prior to arriving in northern Arizona, Stark worked at various public radio stations including program director stints at KNPR Nevada Public Radio / Las Vegas and KGNU / Boulder, CO and news director of Radio Bilingue in Fresno, California, and KCFR / Denver. He worked at National Public Radio in Washington as associate producer of NPR's Morning Edition 1982-1984.
Stark served as President of Western States Public Radio (WSPR) and Rocky Mountain Public Radio from 1999-2003.
Stark resides in Flagstaff, AZ, with wife Kris and teenage step-daughters Kari and Maddy. He was raised in Boulder, CO where he attended public school and graduated from the University of Colorado. He spends as much time as possible hiking the Grand Canyon backcountry and is actively involved in numerous local and regional cultural and environmental organizations.
