Nila Aronow
Executive Producer

Nila Aronow has been with NJN since 1980 and joined the staff of State of the Arts within a month of the show's beginning in 1982. She became series producer three years later and executive producer in 1991. Under her direction, State of the Arts grew from a monthly to a weekly show, winner of twenty-eight Mid-Atlantic and New York Emmys - most recently, in 2008, for Outstanding Magazine Program  and Informational Feature. The series has also received awards for Outstanding Cultural Programming, Talk Show/Series, Documentary, Original Music and Production Design. The series also took top honors in the 2006 National NETA Awards:  for Best Historical Documentary (Turnpike) and Best Website.

Ms. Aronow was executive producer of the PBS documentary Words and Music by Jerry Herman, which aired nationally on January 1, 2008 and is being distributed on DVD by PBS Video.  The 90-minute program about the Broadway composer of “Hello Dolly!” and “La Cage aux Folles” won the top platinum award this year at the Houston Film Festival, and a CINE Golden Eagle.

As executive producer of major national documentaries, she has been honored for her contributions to George Segal: American Still Life, which portrayed the New Jersey-based sculptor internationally known for his white plaster cast figures, Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice, documenting the life of the social realist artist from Roosevelt, New Jersey, and Willie the Lion, about the legendary stride pianist raised in turn-of-the-century Newark.

Other prize-winning national documentaries produced under her supervision include Against the Odds/The Artists of the Harlem Renaissance; Journey from Home: Vladimir Feltsman in Moscow; and Toshiko Takaezu: Portrait of an Artist.

Ms. Aronow’s responsibilities at NJN include the arts unit, which produces State of the Arts on television and radio, plus other specials and projects. She also supervises production of Another View, NJN's series dealing with African American issues, and is an Executive Producer of the weekly Classroom Close-Up NJ. In her role as Associate Executive Director of Production at NJN, she heads the station's Content Committee and works to develop new projects with independent producers.

Before coming to NJN, Nila Aronow worked as a feature writer and restaurant critic, a director of retail sales training, and a high school English teacher. A lifelong resident and enthusiastic champion of South Jersey, she has taken an active part in civic affairs there and throughout the state. She is a former member of the N.J. Council for the Humanities and a member of the Leadership New Jersey Class of 1997. A graduate of Vassar College, Ms. Aronow lives in Haddonfield.