In Memory of Charlie G. Brooks, Jr., EdD, RRT, FAARC

Charlie G. Brooks, Jr., EdD, RRT, FAARC, center, receiving an award from the NBRC.

With profound sadness, the NBRC announces the peaceful passing of Charlie G. Brooks, Jr., EdD, RRT, FAARC, on April 4, 2025. He is survived by his wife, Cheryl and daughter, Brittany Ann Brooks.

Brooks was an alumnus of Vanderbilt University and a respected practitioner since 1968. He led life as a kind and humble man, but the breadth of his achievements betrays his ambition and the love he held for respiratory therapy. He was a Registered Respiratory Therapist, a Doctor of Education, A Director of Clinical Education, an American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC) President, an AARC Fellow and a longtime NBRC Board Member from 2000 – 2007, Consultant from 2008 – 2017 and most recently a Credential Maintenance Panelist from 2018 – 2023.

His skills and expertise created a lasting impact on the practice of respiratory care. Brooks presented over 400 lectures throughout the United States, Canada and the Philippines, spreading expert advice for leadership, education, clinical management of respiratory care and general healthcare. Furthermore, his impact can be measured by the volumes of articles, book chapters and a co-authored text, “Leadership, leadership, wherefore art thou leadership,” that survive him.

His achievements were rightly recognized in his lifetime. He accrued awards, such as:

  • Volunteer of the Year for the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the American Lung Association of Tennessee,
  • Volunteer of the Year for the American Heart Association of Tennessee,
  • Outstanding Service Award from the AARC,
  • Inducted as a Fellow of the AARC for achievements in leadership,
  • 2018 National Honorary Member, Lambda Beta Society, the National Honor Association for the Profession of Respiratory Care, and
  • The following NBRC Awards:
    • The Robert H. Miller, RRT Award, presented to a respiratory therapist or pulmonary function technologist demonstrating outstanding service to the profession and/or the credentialing system.
    • The Sister Mary Yvonne Jenn, CRNA, RRT Lifetime Achievement Award, the NBRC’s highest honor, is presented to an individual whose continuous career accomplishments have significantly impacted the respiratory care community and specifically influenced the profession’s direction or the NBRC’s credentialing system.

Please keep his memory and his surviving loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.

/by Emerson Davis