‘On Topic’ with Baylor President Ken Starr Welcomes Noted Author and Political Analyst David Brooks
Brooks joins Judge Starr March 2 in Waco Hall to discuss important issues facing the nation
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275
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WACO, Texas (March 1, 2016) – Baylor University President and Chancellor Ken Starr will welcome David Brooks, one of America’s most prominent political commentators and author of his latest book, The Road to Character, for “On Topic with Ken Starr,” a series of compelling conversations on contemporary issues, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 2, in Waco Hall on the Baylor campus.
Admission to the event is free and open to the public, but a ticket is required. Tickets are available in person at the Bill Daniel Student Center ticket office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. On Wednesday, tickets may be obtained at Waco Hall, beginning at 2 p.m. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Books are available for purchase at the Baylor Bookstore.
A bi-weekly Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times and regular analyst on PBS “NewsHour” and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Brooks is a keen observer of the American way of life and a penetrating analyst of present-day politics and foreign affairs.
Brooks’ The Road to Character, “explains why selflessness leads to greater success. He tells the story of 10 great lives that illustrate how character is developed, and how we can all strive to build rich inner lives, marked by humility and moral depth. In a society that emphasizes success and external achievement, The Road to Character is a book about inner worth.”
Brooks also is the author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement, which uses the story of a fictional American couple to explain the importance of neuroscience and sociology in understanding America’s politics, culture and future. His other books, Bobos in Paradise and On Paradise Drive, are in a style he calls “comic sociology” – descriptions of how we live and “the water we swim in” that are as witty and entertaining as they are revealing and insightful. Bobos in Paradise was a New York Times bestseller.
Brooks is currently teaching a course at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Williams College, New York University, Brandeis University and Occidental College, among others. In 2010, Brooks became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Brooks has worked at The Weekly Standard, joining the magazine at its inception and serving as senior editor. He has been a contributing editor at Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly. He worked at The Wall Street Journal for nine years in a range of positions, including op-ed editor.
“On Topic” features Baylor President and Chancellor Ken Starr welcoming leaders from business, government, the law and more for a series of engaging conversations about important issues facing our nation. “On Topic” debuted in March 2011 at Baylor with President Starr’s inaugural guest, author, financier and alternative energy proponent T. Boone Pickens.
Since then, President Starr has welcomed many prestigious “On Topic” guests, including former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; constitutional law scholar and Yale Law Professor Akhil Reed Amar; former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell; writer and social critic Os Guinness; Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz; journalist and political commentator Juan Williams; Richard Joel, President of Yeshiva University, and John Garvey, President of The Catholic University of America; former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, now holder of The Jerry and Susie Wilson Chair in Religious Freedom at Baylor; former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman; and former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.