Bestselling Author, National Opinion Columnist David Brooks To Headline Rockhurst University Leadership Series
David Brooks, a New York Times columnist and bestselling author of “The Road to Character,” will bring his unique perspective on the American life and keen insights into present-day politics and foreign affairs to Kansas City as the keynote guest of the 11thRockhurst University Leadership Series event at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri.
Brooks will draw on his extensive experience and wide-ranging interests as a writer for a presentation titled “Walking the Road to Character Today,” explaining in part how true ethical leadership is defined by healthy doses of both humility and confidence.
“Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so,” he wrote.
A leading voice in the landscape of American opinion writing, Brooks serves as a bi-weekly op-ed columnist for the New York Times and a regular analyst on PBS NewsHour and NPR’s All Things Considered. He is also the author of bestselling books, including “The Road to Character” and “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There.”
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Brooks was raised in New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Chicago before starting his journalistic career as a police reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago. He worked at The Wall Street Journal for nine years in a range of positions, including as a correspondent based in Brussels covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs, and later as op-ed editor. Brooks joined The Weekly Standard at its inception in 1995 and served as the magazine’s senior editor. He has also been a contributing editor at Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly.
Brooks is the latest guest of the series, which has also brought figures including NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, astronaut Scott Kelly, and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kansas City.
Also during the event, the University will honor the recipient of the annual Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics. Named for two influential leaders in Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management — the late Tom Lyon, Ph.D., and the Rev. Nick Rashford, S.J. — and established in 2014, the award recognizes significant achievement by a member of the University community. Previous award recipients include 2022 honoree Joe Reardon, a 1990 Rockhurst graduate who served as former CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, and is the current CEO and president of the Greater Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce; former Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sly James, a 1980 Rockhurst graduate; and five women representing the eras of female leadership at Rockhurst.
For more information, visit the event’s webpage. A limited number of individual tickets will be available.
