Public policy scholar and author Arthur C. Brooks will be the featured speaker at Claremont McKenna College’s 72nd commencement ceremony, to be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 18.
A contributing writer for the Washington Post and New York Times, Brooks is a passionate advocate for dialogue across ideological differences. His current book, “Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt,” is a prescription for bridging both national divides and the conflicts in personal relationships they fuel. He has also written a textbook on social entrepreneurship, as well as two New York Times bestsellers, “The Conservative Heart” and “The Road to Freedom.”
Brooks has been President of the American Enterprise Institute, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, D.C., since 2009. During his presidency, AEI expanded its public policy research portfolio to include work on poverty, happiness, and human potential. In the fall of 2019, Brooks will leave AEI to join the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School.
Prior to joining AEI, Brooks was Louis A. Bantle Chair of Business and Government at Syracuse University.
Brooks began his career as a classical French hornist. He left college at 19 to perform with the Annapolis Brass Quintet and the City Orchestra of Barcelona. He returned to college after 12 years in music and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and a master’s and Ph.D. degree in public policy analysis.