Commencement speaker Arthur C. Brooks will see the release of his 15th book next month. (Photo courtesy of arthurbrooks.com)

At 18, Arthur C. Brooks was certain his life’s purpose was the French horn.

At 61 — with a Harvard professorship, a decade of think-tank leadership and 14 books on self-help, conservative policy and the arts — he’s not so sure that was true.

In May, Brooks will take the stage as Lafayette College’s 191st commencement speaker, aiming to offer the bicentennial class a measure of calm about the unknown.

“Everybody feels like there’s something they’re meant to do, but they don’t know what it is,” Brooks said. But not knowing is “perfectly OK,” he added, citing a common Zen Buddhist refrain: “Not knowing is the most intimate.”

“A life well-lived is one in which you are progressively figuring out what you’re meant to do,” he said.

Brooks speaks from experience.

After a decade of French horn playing across Europe, he pivoted into a career as a prodigious conservative thinker. Brooks spent a decade at the helm of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, and published books championing free markets and warning against political polarization. Over time, his focus shifted from systems to behavior, and Brooks has been on a happiness kick ever since.

Today, he leads the Leadership and Happiness Lab at Harvard University. His four most recent books, including one co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, center on meaning and well-being. He’s a podcast host, a columnist for The Atlantic and The Free Press — described by several media outlets as an anti-woke alternative to legacy media — and a professional speaker. A month before speaking at Lafayette, he’ll also deliver commencement addresses at the University of Utah and Vanderbilt University.

To Brooks, a self-described “warrior for human happiness,” the throughline is clear: the pursuit of a better life. His upcoming book, “The Meaning of Your Life,” continues that focus.

“Everybody wants to be happy,” Brooks said. “Liberals want to be happy. Conservatives want to be happy. The themes are going to be love and happiness, and how we can come together, despite our differences.”

Brooks paused.

“No,” he said. “Actually, because of our differences.”

The third-generation academic also professed a fondness for liberal arts schools. He grew up near the campus of Seattle Pacific University, where his father taught math. Brooks has studied everything from neuroscience and philosophy to statistics and theology.

“Putting it all together, it creates a strategy for life that comes at it from many different angles,” Brooks said. “It’s kind of perfect for liberal arts colleges that are serious about the whole person.”

College President Nicole Hurd, who first met Brooks at a conference last year, said the committee that chose him found the “pursuit of happiness” to be a particularly relevant theme, given the college’s bicentennial and the country’s 250th birthday. 

“If you look at what we’re doing on campus, there’s so many places where this aligns,” Hurd said. “There’s a desire on this campus to do the work of seeing and hearing the value of others.”

Brooks will be the first non-alum commencement speaker in five years. In past years, committee members have said alumni speakers can foster a more intimate connection with college seniors, while celebrities or off-the-shelf speakers run the risk of sounding canned.

“It’s easy to be like, ‘Let’s have Beyonce,’” said college chaplain Alex Hendrickson, who’s had a seat on the speaker selection committee for over a decade. “But, if I’m sitting here 20 years from now when I come to my reunion at Lafayette, am I going to remember who my commencement speaker is and what they said?”

She described Brooks as the right speaker for students who may be thinking, “Who do I want to be in this world?”

“He’s a beautiful example of someone who’s had a non-linear life,” Hurd said. “He’s a great example to our students that you can have multiple passions in a lifetime, and those can go into meaningful careers and meaningful ways to serve.”