Karen Brooks Hopkins is the president emerita of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where she worked for thirty-six years, serving sixteen as its president. As president, Hopkins oversaw the institution’s 230 full-time employees and its multiple theaters and cinemas, ranging from the 2,100-seat Howard Gilman Opera House to the flexible 250-seat Fishman Space.

Hopkins has served as the chair of the Cultural Institutions Group, has been a member of the mayor’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, the New York State Board of Regents, and sat on the Boards of NYC & Company, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, and currently serves on the Trust for Governors Island.

Hopkins was appointed Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star for work done on behalf of the Royal Dramatic Theater of Sweden, named Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France, and awarded the King Olav’s Medal by Norway. She was designated a “Woman of Achievement” by the professional association Women in Development in 2013 and named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” by Crain’s New York Business.

Among the many honors BAM has received during her tenure is the National Medal of the Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts organizations by the U.S. government. President Obama presented the medal to Hopkins at a White House ceremony in 2014. In 2015, Hopkins was one of ten esteemed business leaders appointed to the inaugural Crain’s Hall of Fame.   Her “Successful Fundraising for Arts & Cultural Organizations” is currently in its second edition and her new book, “BAM…And Then It Hit Me,” (a memoir) was published in 2021 by powerHouse Books.  In 2022, she completed a 35-stop international book tour. 

A graduate of the University of Maryland, she received her MFA from George Washington University in Washington, DC. She has received honorary degrees from St. Frances College, Pratt Institute, Long Island University, and a prestigious honorary Doctor of Laws from Columbia University. 

Following her retirement from BAM in June 2015, Hopkins served as the Inaugural Senior Fellow in Residence at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, adviser to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, board member of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, senior adviser to and board member of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, and a former Nasher Haemisegger Fellow at SMU DataArts.

She is also currently serving as Producer of Sabbath Theater, an adaptation of a book by Philip Roth, starring actor, John Turturro.