Arthur C. Brooks

At 19, Brooks left college to become a professional French horn player, performing across Europe with the City Orchestra of Barcelona; he later pieced together an undergraduate degree through distance learning.⁠[1]

Before his work in academia and public policy, he spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain, with positions including the Barcelona Symphony.⁠[2][3]

Brooks earned an M.A. in economics from Florida Atlantic University in 1994 and a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in public policy analysis from the RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies in 1998.⁠[3]

Brooks joined the faculty of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School in 2001, serving as professor of public administration and Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy and teaching policy analysis, microeconomics, public and nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship; the professorship was shared with the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.⁠[3][2]

By 2008 he had written seven books, the most recent being Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America – and How We Can Get More of It (Basic Books, 2008). He had been a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute since 2007.⁠[3]

On July 15, 2008, Syracuse University announced that Brooks had been chosen as the eleventh president of the American Enterprise Institute, effective January 1, 2009.⁠[3]

Brooks led the American Enterprise Institute from January 1, 2009, also holding the title Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise. In March 2018 he announced that he would step down as president in June 2019, after a decade in the role.⁠[3][2]

On March 20, 2018, Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry (a16z) released the episode “a16z Podcast: On Morals and Meaning in Products, Business, Life,” hosted by a16z’s Sonal Chokshi, with Brooks appearing as president of AEI. The short, hallway-style conversation was recorded during an earlier a16z roadshow in Washington, D.C.⁠[4]

The episode argues that systems, including AI and capitalism, “need to work for people, not the other way around,” applying ideas of human dignity and potential to automation, jobs, education and entrepreneurship; Brooks argues that these questions must be grounded in a philosophy of human meaning in which people truly need one another, so that no one is left behind by technological progress.⁠[4]

The episode was uploaded to the a16z YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel on January 1, 2019, under the title “a16z Podcast | On Morals and Meaning in Products, Business, and Life.”⁠[5]

On August 30, 2018, Harvard Kennedy School announced that Brooks would join it in July 2019 as professor of the practice of public leadership, affiliated with its Center for Public Leadership and teaching leadership and management courses, while also serving as a senior fellow at Harvard Business School. At the time of the announcement he was a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and hosted “The Arthur Brooks Show,” a podcast produced by the Vox Media Podcast Network.⁠[2]

He later held the title Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and was professor of management practice at Harvard Business School.⁠[6]

On April 23, 2026, Vanderbilt University announced that Brooks would become an endowed professor in the Department of Medicine, Health and Society in its College of Arts and Science from July 1 of that year, focusing on public-facing teaching and engagement, contributing to executive education on purpose-driven leadership and well-being, and teaching a Maymester course for undergraduates; he was also named the university’s 2026 Graduates Day speaker. Brooks said in the announcement: “This is the perfect setting for me to pursue my public education mission.”⁠[6]

Brooks is the author of 16 books on subjects including charitable giving (Who Really Cares), free enterprise and happiness; From Strength to Strength, Build the Life You Want (co-authored with Oprah Winfrey) and The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness each reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list. He also wrote Love Your Enemies, published in March 2019.⁠[7][6][2]

He is a CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news organization of the U.S. CBS system, part of Paramount, providing news coverage through television, the web and streaming. Its history extends from radio newsgathering to television and digital platforms; its signature programs include CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, and CBS News 24/7 is its streaming news service.Open the full entry contributor and a columnist at The Free Press, where he writes “The Pursuit of Happiness,” and he hosts the weekly podcast “Office Hours with Arthur Brooks.”⁠[7][1]

Personal website: https://arthurbrooks.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/arthurbrooks (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-c-brooks/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

YouTube: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@drarthurbrooks (opens in a new window).⁠[1]