Start your week at BIO 2025 with a morning of connection and inspiration. This year’s executive breakfast brings together industry leaders for a powerful conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike and acclaimed scientist Dr. Nancy Hopkins, the subject of The Exceptions. Dr. Hopkins’ groundbreaking efforts to expose gender inequities in science led to MIT’s historic 1999 acknowledgment of discrimination against women faculty—a moment that reshaped the conversation around equality in academia and beyond. Learn how a group of determined women, with the support of key allies, confronted systemic bias and ignited meaningful reform. Don’t miss this compelling discussion about courage, collaboration, and the ongoing fight for equity.

Early Bird registrants will receive a copy of The Exceptions, and a book signing event will follow the talk.

Note: A valid photo ID is required to gain entry to the venue.

Program

8:00 a.m. – 8:40 a.m. Gather, mingle, breakfast buffet
8:40 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.  Opening remarks 
8:50 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.  Fireside chat (moderated by Dr. Iris Grossman)
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  Book signing and mingling 

Speaker Bios

Nancy Hopkins, Professor of Biology emerita at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nancy is the Amgen, Inc. Professor of Biology emerita at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a molecular biologist, geneticist, and an advocate for women in science. She obtained her PhD at Harvard, working on gene expression in phage lambda. Then, she did postdoctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where she worked on DNA tumor viruses. Hopkins joined the MIT faculty in 1973. Her lab used genetics to study the basis of cancer in mice and zebrafish and to identify genes required for early animal development. In 1995, Hopkins chaired an MIT committee on issues faced by women faculty. A summary of the committee’s findings, called A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT, was published in 1999 and had an international impact. She then joined MIT’s central administration under President Charles Vest and Provost Bob Brown to address the under-representation of women and minority faculty at MIT. Hopkins is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kate Zernike, Reporter for The New York Times

Kate is a journalist and author, most recently, of The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins and the Fight for Women in Science. She has been a reporter for The New York Times since 2000. She joined The Times as an education reporter and has since worked on the investigations, national, styles, metro, and science desks, and as a reporter in the Washington Bureau, and most recently was the lead reporter covering abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade. She was a member of the team that received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for a series of stories on Al Qaeda before and after the terror attacks of 9/11. Her first book, Boiling Mad: Behind the Lines in Tea Party America, was published in 2010. The Exceptions, published in 2023, was named one of the 25 best books of the year by the American Library Association, one of the 100 best books of the year by The New York Times, and was a finalist for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she began her journalism career at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. Before joining The Times, she was a reporter for The Boston Globe, where she broke the story of MIT's admission that it had discriminated against women on its science faculty, upon which The Exceptions is based.

Pricing Information

Register by May 15, 2025 (includes a copy of the book)

• Members/Guests: $55
• Non-Members*: $85

Register after May 15

• Members/Guests: $70
• Non-Members*: $105

*Not a Member? Click here to purchase a WIB membership and gain access to our video library, mentorship opportunities, and more. 

Please read WIB’s Code of Conduct, In-person Event Waiver, and Refund Policy.

Note: A confirmation email will be sent after registration has been completed. 

Registration Deadline

June 12, 2025

Parking Information

Parking options are variable and plentiful in the region, albeit for a fee. This venue is within walking distance of BIO's main conference venue. Guests who park at 100 Northern Avenue should bring their ticket into the building with them and utilize the pay stations in the lobby before returning to their vehicle. Due to ongoing construction, parking in Goodwin's onsite garage is limited. The Seaport Hotel is an alternative option.

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