Press Release
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Cambridge, MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named General (ret.) Vincent K. Brooks a non-resident Senior Fellow. Brooks is a career Army officer who retired from active duty in January 2019 as the four-star general in command of all U.S. Forces in Korea, where he concurrently commanded United Nations Command as well as the Republic of Korea – U.S. Combined Forces Command, comprising over 650,000 Koreans and Americans under arms. At the Belfer Center, Brooks will share his lessons on leadership, public service, and global affairs with faculty, staff, fellows, and students.
“Vince is an extraordinary public servant,” said Belfer Center Director Ash Carter. “In a career of firsts and bests, he distinguished himself as a scholar, strategist, and commander. We are so fortunate to welcome a National Security Fellow alumnus back to the Kennedy School to help us mentor the next generation.”
“It is quite humbling to join the Belfer Center as a Senior Fellow,” said Brooks. “What a terrific opportunity to carry on my two-decade relationship with the Harvard Kennedy School. I look forward to contributing in any way I can.”
General Brooks, who goes by “Vince,” is a 1980 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the first class to include women, and he led the 4,000 cadets as the cadet brigade commander or “First Captain.” A history-maker, Brooks is the first African American to have been chosen for this paramount position, and he was the first cadet to lead the student body when women were in all four classes (freshman or “plebe” to senior or “first classman”). He is also the eighth African American in history to attain the military’s top rank – four-star general in the United States Army.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; a Master of Military Art and Science from the prestigious U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the New England School of Law as well as an honorary Doctor of Humanities from New England Law | Boston. He was also a National Security Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.
Widely respected as a speaker on, and leader of, cohesive, innovative organizations within and beyond the military, his areas of expertise are: leadership in complex organizations, crisis leadership, and building cohesive trust-based teams; national security, policy, strategy, international relations, military operations, combating terrorism, and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and diversity and inclusion. He is a combat veteran and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a Director of the Gary Sinise Foundation Board of Directors.
Brooks, who resides in Austin, Texas, comes from a career military family and claims Alexandria, Virginia as home given the long roots in maternal and paternal branches of the family tree. He is married to Carol P. Brooks, DSc, MA, a retired physical therapist who is now an adult educator.
Contact: Josh Burek, Director of Global Communications & Strategy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs: josh_burek@hks.harvard.edu | 617-495-7831.