William Hopkins
Position title: Professor of Comparative Medicine
Address:
MIchale E Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
William D Hopkins is Professor of Comparative Medicine at the Michale E Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Prior to joining MD Anderson, Hopkins was Professor of Neuroscience at Georgia State University and Associate Research Scientist at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University. He was a Blaise-Pascal laureate at Paris-Saclay Universite (2019 to 2022) and a former fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Universite Aix-Marseille (2015).
Hopkins graduated from UW-Madison in 1983 with a BS in Psychology. He attended Georgia State University and received a MA and PhD in comparative and developmental psychology. Professor Hopkins’ work has been instrumental in new discoveries about the brain, behavior, and communication in humans and other primates. His research focuses on the evolution of neural systems underlying language and communication in chimpanzees and other great apes. He also uses quantitative genetic analyses to explore the co-evolution of different cognitive and brain systems in chimpanzees and other primates. He is an internationally renowned expert in primate neural and psychological processes, with over 300 publications, hundreds of invited seminars and talks, and research funding support from a wide range of health and science agencies that include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation, and the Human Frontiers Science Program.
Hopkins’ dedication to the success of the next generation of scientists is reflected in his successful mentorship of dozens of undergraduate, graduate students and junior scholars. A natural leader and innovator, Hopkins has played critical roles in the success of multiple primate research centers. Hopkins served as director of the MD Anderson Keeling Center, was a co-founder of the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative in Iowa, and he is the co-director of the NIH-funded National Chimpanzee Brain Resource.
Hopkins lives in Bastrop, Texas (just outside of Austin) with his wife Angela. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, golf, and travel.