The people who volunteer to work on tasks to improve the community, the state and the nation are all very interesting people," said John Hopkins. "I believe Los Alamos is extraordinary in the number of people who volunteer and bring their expertise to the issues at hand."

John and his late wife, Adele, worked at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for the summers of 1955 and 1956. "I loved Los Alamos from the first time I drove up the front hill in 1955," said John. The Hopkins family made Los Alamos their home in 1960 when John accepted a staff member position in P Division. John and Adele's two daughters, Anna and Barbara, grew up in Los Alamos.

A founding member of Leadership Los Alamos, John was on the board and participated in the first yearlong course. "It was a brilliant idea to develop a course for people who want to participate in county government to learn their way around," said John, who has also dedicated his volunteer efforts to ensure open government and meaningful roles for citizens in county government.

Written by Karen Nilsson Brandt, copyright ©