KEYNOTE DINNER CONVERSATION
About Old School with Shilo Brooks
Fewer people than ever are reading for fun, and Jack Miller Fellow Shilo Brooks is on a mission to change that. The Jack Miller Center supports his new podcast, Old School with Shilo Brooks, in partnership with The Free Press. The podcast features conversations with intriguing men about formative books. New episodes out every Thursday.
Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle; Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power; American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House; Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship; Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush; and His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. He holds the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Chair at Vanderbilt University and is a fellow of the Society of American Historians.
Shilo Brooks is President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and Professor of Practice in the Department of Political Science at Southern Methodist University. He previously served as Executive Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and Lecturer in the Department of Politics at Princeton University.
Brooks is the author of Nietzsche’s Culture War, in addition to scholarly and journalistic articles on a variety of topics in politics and the humanities. His teaching and research interests lie in the history of political philosophy, politics and literature, and statesmanship.
He was previously Associate Faculty Director of the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization and Faculty Director of the Engineering Leadership Program at the University of Colorado.
Brooks has also held appointments as Visiting Professor of Government at Bowdoin College, Fellow in the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy at the University of Virginia, and Fellow in the James Madison Program at Princeton. He received his PhD in political science from Boston College and his BA in liberal arts from the Great Books Program at St. John’s College, Annapolis.
Hanna Skandera brings a proven track record of transformative leadership to her role as president and CEO of the Daniels Fund. Joining the organization’s board in 2019 and taking the helm in 2021, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to impact and positively influencing American life. Hanna is nationally recognized for her bold leadership, entrepreneurial vision, and focus on outcomes. As Secretary of Education in New Mexico under Governor Susana Martinez, Hanna realized significant improvements in academic achievement and effective management of a $2.7 billion budget. She previously served as Undersecretary for California Governor Schwarzenegger and as Deputy Commissioner for Florida Governor Jeb Bush, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Education. The Daniels Fund is a $1.7 billion philanthropic organization that equips people to reach their fullest potential. The Fund provides grants to highly effective nonprofits, has launched the National Civics Bee which is now in 115 cities across 28 states, and provides college scholarships to the next generation of America’s leaders.
Hans Zeiger is President of the Jack Miller Center, a nationwide, nonpartisan educational venture to invest in the teaching and scholarship of the American political tradition and to grow the national movement for civic education.
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Hans is the son, grandson, and great grandson of Puyallup, Washington public school teachers. Elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 2010, he served as ranking member on the House Higher Education Committee before going on to serve in the Washington State Senate, chairing the Senate’s Education Committee and helping to pass the state’s half-credit civics graduation requirement.
Hans led the Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute from 2012 to 2020. He was a Leadership Fellow of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, a Rodel Fellow of the Aspen Institute, and a trustee of the Washington State Historical Society.
Hans holds a bachelor’s degree from Hillsdale College and a master’s in public policy from Pepperdine University. He also studied American politics at Claremont Graduate University. He previously served as a public affairs officer in the Air National Guard. Hans and his wife Erin have two daughters.