Arthur Brooks
Arthur Brooks is the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership, happiness, and personal development. A New York Times bestselling author, he has written more than a dozen books, including From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life (2022) and Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier (2023), coauthored with Oprah Winfrey. He is also a national columnist for The Atlantic, where his popular “How to Build a Life” series explores the science of happiness, purpose, and meaning; the essays were recently collected into his book The Happiness Files. Beyond academia and writing, Brooks is an in-demand keynote speaker, bringing his research and insights to audiences around the world, from Fortune 500 executives and global thought leaders to universities, faith communities, and civic institutions. Prior to his academic and writing career, he served for a decade as president of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the world’s leading think tanks, where he focused on public policy, culture, and human flourishing. A lifelong student of the science of happiness and love, Brooks is also a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, as well as a practicing Catholic, weaving together his scholarship and personal life in a vision of human thriving.