Born in 1871 in Greene County, North Carolina, Brooks graduated from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1894 with an A.B. degree. He was awarded his Litt.D. degree from Davidson College in 1918.
Brooks worked on newspapers, and he served as teacher, principal, and superintendent at a number of North Carolina schools. In 1906 he founded the journal North Carolina Education and served as its editor until 1923. From 1907 to 1919 he headed the Trinity College Department of Education. He was state superintendent of public instruction in North Carolina from 1919 to 1923.
In 1923 Brooks became president of North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, and he oversaw a major reorganization. During his tenure the Schools of Agriculture, Science and Business, Education, Textiles, and Engineering came into existence, as did the Graduate School. Enrollment rose to nearly 2000 in 1929. Brooks headed the college until 1934. He died at Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1947.
Portrait
of Eugene Clyde Brooks