David Brooks
Op-Ed Columnist for The New York Times
David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He has been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at Newsweek and the Atlantic Monthly, and he is currently a commentator on “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer.” He is the author of “Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There” and “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense,”
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both published by Simon & Schuster. In March of 2011 he came out with his third book, “The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement,” published by Random House.
Mr. Brooks joined The Weekly Standard at its inception in September 1995, having worked at The Wall Street Journal for the previous nine years. His last post at the Journal was as op-ed editor. Prior to that, he was posted in Brussels, covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs. His first post at the Journal was as editor of the book review section, and he filled in for five months as the Journal’s movie critic.
His distinguished history of contributions to publications include: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Public Interest, the TLS, The New Republic and Commentary among others.
He is also a frequent commentator on National Public Radio, Charlie Rose and NBC’s Meet The Press. Mr. Brooks is the editor of the 1996 anthology “Backward and Upward: the New Conservative Writing,” and “The Best American Essays 2012.” Mr. Brooks has also started teaching two undergraduate classes at Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Mr. Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983. Immediately afterwards, he became a police reporter for the City News Bureau, a wire service owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times. He is married with three children and lives in Washington, DC.
Dr. Maurice Elias
Professor, Rutgers University
Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D. is Professor and Director of Clinical Training, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Academic Director of Rutgers’ Civic Engagement and Service Education Partnerships Program (CESEP; engage.rutgers.edu), Coordinator of Rutgers’ Internship Program in Applied, School, and Community Psychology, Past President of the international Society for Community
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Research and Action/Division of Community Psychology (27) of APA, Director of Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab, Coordinator of Improving School Climate for Academic and Life Success (ISCALS) at Rutgers’ Center for Applied Psychology, and Founding Member of the Leadership Team for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Books include Emotionally Intelligent Parenting (2000), Bullying, Peer Harassment, and Victimization in the Schools: The Next Generation of Prevention (Haworth, 2003), the Social Decision Making/Social Problem Solving Curricula for Elementary and Middle School Students (2006), The Educator’s Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement: Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom (Corwin, 2006). He collaborated with storytellers in the U.S. and Israel, and a prominent Israeli School Psychologist, to create a book for young children: Talking Treasure: Stories to Help Build Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Young Children (2012). He is a licensed psychologist in NJ and writes a blog on Social-Emotional and Character Development (SECD) for the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
Dr. Robert M. Franklin
President Emeritus, Morehouse College
Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, Jr. is a Visiting Scholar in Residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. He is president emeritus of Morehouse College where he served as the tenth president of the nation’s largest private, four-year liberal arts college for men from 2007 through 2012. Franklin graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Morehouse in 1975 with a degree in political science and religion.
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He continued his education at Harvard Divinity School, earning a master of divinity degree in Christian social ethics and pastoral care in 1978, and the University of Chicago, earning a doctorate in ethics and society, and religion and the social sciences in 1985. He also undertook international study at the University of Durham, UK, as a 1973 English Speaking Union Scholar. His major fields of study include social ethics, psychology and African American religion. He is also the recipient of honorary degrees from Bethune Cookman University, Bates College, and Swarthmore College.
Franklin is the author of three books: Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (2007); Another Day’s Journey: Black Churches Confronting the American Crisis (1997); and Liberating Visions: Human Fulfillment and Social Justice in African American Thought (1990). He has co-authored (Don S. Browning, et. al.) a volume titled From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (2001). In 2012, he wrote the foreword to a reprint of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” (Trinity Forum, New York).
Michael Josephson
President, Josephson Institute of Ethics
Michael Josephson, a former lawyer, law professor, and successful entrepreneur, is one of the nation’s most respected and sought-after speakers and consultants in the field of ethics and character, with a special expertise in the area of ethics and character in schools and the workplace. In 2009, he was named UCLA Alumnus of the Year, an honor given to only 60 of the 500,000 people who have earned degrees from UCLA. He has also received America’s Award for Integrity presented by former President Ronald Reagan.
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In 1987, after a distinguished 20-year career teaching law and as the CEO of a prominent legal education company, he resigned his professorship and sold his business to found the Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics. The Josephson Institute has assisted corporations, government agencies, and professionals in politics, education, healthcare, law, sports, the military, and the nonprofit community to strengthen individual and institutional decision-making and create sustainable ethical cultures.
In 1993, the Institute moved into youth education with the creation of CHARACTER COUNTS!, a character development strategy based on universal ethical values called the Six Pillars of Character (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship).
In 1996, the Josephson Institute launched a sportsmanship initiative called the Pursuing Victory With Honor to encourage and assist coaches and sports administrators to enhance character-building and sportsmanship in amateur athletics. In 2008, the U.S. Olympic Committee commissioned Mr. Josephson to train all U.S. athletes prior to the Beijing Olympic Games to “Make U.S. Proud.”
