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@arthurbrooksBio & Experience
Arthur C. Brooks served as president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) from January 1, 2009, to June 30, 2019. He also held the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Free Enterprise. Today, he serves as the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership, happiness, and social entrepreneurship. He is also a columnist at the Atlantic, where he writes the popular “How to Build a Life” column.
Before joining AEI, Dr. Brooks held the Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business and Government at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he taught economics and nonprofit management, and published 60 peer-reviewed articles and several books, including the textbook Social Entrepreneurship (Pearson, 2008). Before his work in academia and public policy, he spent 12 years as a classical musician in the United States and Spain.
Dr. Brooks is the author of 13 books, including the number-one New York Times bestseller From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life (Portfolio, 2022) and the forthcoming Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier with coauthor Oprah Winfrey, available September 2023.
Dr. Brooks speaks to audiences all around the world about human happiness and works to raise well-being in private companies, universities, public agencies, and community organizations. On November 15, 2022, Dr. Brooks received the Irving Kristol Award, the highest honor bestowed by AEI.
Dr. Brooks has a PhD and an MPhil in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He also holds an MA in economics from Florida Atlantic University and a BA in economics from Thomas Edison State College.
Experience
- Harvard University: Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School, 2023–present; William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School, 2019–23; Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School, 2019–present
- American Enterprise Institute: President, 2009–19; Beth and Ravenel Curry Scholar in Free Enterprise, 2013–19; Visiting Fellow, 2007–09
- Syracuse University (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and Whitman School of Management): Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy, 2007–08; Professor of Public Administration, 2006–08; Associate Professor of Public Administration, 2001–05
- Georgia State University: Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Economics, 1998–2001
- RAND Corporation: Doctoral Fellow, 1996–98; Consultant, 1998–2008
- Lynn University: Professor of French Horn, Harid Conservatory of Music, 1992–95
- City Orchestra of Barcelona: French Hornist, 1989–92
- Annapolis Brass Quintet: French Hornist, 1983–89
Education
PhD, MPhil, policy analysis, RAND Graduate School
MA, economics, Florida Atlantic University
BA, economics, Thomas Edison State College
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