Before becoming a priest, Brooks graduated from Boston Latin School in 1942, then enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1943, serving in the European Theater of Operations from 1944 to 1946.
He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in physics in 1949, obtained a master's degree in geophysics from Boston College, and a doctorate from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
[2] He was a member of the Faculty of the Theology Department at Holy Cross and served as Vice President and Dean of College.
In 1968, Brooks recruited a group of young African-American men to study at Holy Cross.
A 2007 article in BusinessWeek suggested that "Brooks helped shape an exceptional group of overachievers", including Clarence Thomas and Edward P. Jones as chronicled in the 2012 book on the integration of Holy Cross, "Fraternity" by Diane Brady.