Karen Brooks Hopkins

Artist

Karen Brooks Hopkins is President Emerita of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where she worked for more than three decades, serving 16 years as its president with humor and vision. Hopkins oversaw the performing arts and cultural institution’s staff and its multiple theaters and cinemas, ranging from BAM Howard Gilman Opera House to the intimate Fishman Space. She has served as chair of the Cultural Institutions Group, on the boards of prestigious local and state organizations, and was named Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France. Hopkins is also the recipient of the King Olav medal from Norway and the Commander of the Polar Star from Sweden. During her tenure, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts organizations by the U.S. government, to Hopkins at a White House ceremony in 2014.