Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Public and Nonprofit Leadership, Harvard; Social Scientist; Bestselling Author; and The Atlantic Columnist

Arthur Brooks is a prominent social scientist, bestselling author and global public speaker specializing in the science of human happiness and leadership. Brooks blends neuroscience, behavioral science, philosophy, and religion for insights on how to live better and be happier. He is a columnist on The Free Press, a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly podcast “Office Hours with Arthur Brooks.”

Brooks is the author of 16 books including the number one New York Times bestsellers, Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier (with coauthor Oprah Winfrey) and From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.

Brooks’ latest number-one New York Times bestselling book—The Meaning of Your

 Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness—addresses a modern “psychogenic epidemic” of meaninglessness. Brooks details how rapid cultural, technological, and economic shifts have rewired our brains to make finding true depth and significance incredibly difficult. He provides a blueprint to help us regain our focus and attend to life’s most important questions, so that we can experience a life of significance through calling, deep connection and transcendence.

Arthur Brooks holds an endowed professorship at Vanderbilt University and is a senior fellow at the Harvard Business School. He served for 10 years as the president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington D.C. one of the world’s most influential think tanks. During his time at AEI, he was selected as one of Fortune Magazine’s “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.”