New York Times columnist David Brooks, AB ’83, and Comment editor-in-chief Anne Snyder have joined the forthcoming Leadership & Society Initiative (LSI) as Senior Advisors and Senior Fellows. Their appointments began on January 1, 2023.
LSI is a new, yearlong fellowship at the University of Chicago to support experienced leaders in transitioning from their longstanding careers toward purposeful next chapters of leadership for society. Brooks and Snyder will help to develop and deliver the initiative, including advising on the program design and teaching a course for the inaugural cohort of fellows.
“David and Anne are writers and thinkers who have transformed our understanding of how individuals lead purposeful lives,” said Ka Yee C. Lee, Provost of the University of Chicago. “Their involvement in LSI will help us build a world-class program anchored in self-reflection, intellectual rigor, and discernment of meaningful next chapters.”
“I’m just tremendously excited to be participating in the Leadership and Society Initiative,” said Brooks, who recently finished service as a Trustee of the University. “It’s already been a pleasure to re-enter the never to be matched UChicago culture, and LSI is filling a gaping hole in our society, helping people at the peak of their wisdom contribute to the wider world.”
Snyder, who recently finished service as a trustee of the Hyde Park Institute, echoed the enthusiasm to join LSI. “Our society is rightly concerned about the hunger for meaning and purpose that characterizes so much of emerging adulthood today, with fewer shepherds and scripts to help guide. But there is another chapter similarly pregnant with big questions, this one shaped by decades of experience. I am humbled by the opportunity to accompany and learn from those risking a new journey of whole-life integration, service and generativity.”
Brooks and Snyder will bring distinctive experience and insight to LSI. Brooks is the chair of Weave: The Social Fabric Project and the best-selling author of The Social Animal, The Road to Character, and The Second Mountain. Snyder is host of The Whole Person Revolution podcast and the former director of The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Character Initiative.
LSI will be a yearlong, cohort-based fellowship designed for accomplished executives who are nearing or in retirement from their primary careers and who are seeking to launch meaningful next chapters – for themselves and for the world around them. Cohort members will begin by reflecting on their life’s journey, values, and passions; then, they will explore urgent societal challenges with a focus on topics that align with their values. LSI will culminate with each cohort member presenting a purpose plan that lays out the vision for a purposeful next chapter.
Individuals seeking to be considered for the inaugural LSI cohort during the 2023-2024 academic year are encouraged to join the initiativie’s January 4th virtual information session and to submit their resumes or professional biographies by January 6.