Nancy H. Hopkins
Personal Information
Born: 1943
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study BA 1964; Harvard University PhD 1971 Biology & Biochemistry
Professional Life
Field of Study: Molecular Biology
Institution/Corporation: MIT
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: Trinity College Dublin (2014); Member: National Academy of Sciences (2004), Institute of Medicine of the National Academy, American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1998), National Academy of Medicine (1999), American Association for Cancer Research (2021)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2014, Harvard Centennial Medal; 2021, Bomedical Innovation Award; 2018, Xconomy Lifetime Achievement Award; 2012, Margaret L. Kripke Legend Award, MDAnderson; 2006, AACR Women in Cancer Research Award; 2003, UCSF Medal; 2015, Alice C. Evans Award, American Society for Microbiology; 2017, Helen Dean King Award
Achievements: identified the operator sites on DNA to which the lambda repressor binds to control early gene expression & the viral life cycle; discovered cells whose nucleus had been removed were able to re-establish normal morphology; walked out of a speech by Lawrence Summers (January 2005) to protest his sexist remarks, contributed to his resignation as President of Harvard
Used genetics to map RNA tumor virus genes
During mid-1990s at MIT became concerned she & other women were systematically discriminated against; was the initial chair of the committee to investigate unconscious gender bias; results published in 1999 & credited with launching a national reexamination of equity for female scientists; led to formation of MIT-9 (Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Yale, Berkeley, & MIT)
Stated when she was an undergrad in the 1960s, Francis Crick (1962 Nobel Prize co-winner) put his hands on her breasts during a lab visit
2005, at an NBER meeting in Cambridge, MA walked out in protest during a talk by then President of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, to protest his sexist remarks
Holds 2 patents with 2 pending