While working for The Boston Globe in 1999, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike broke the story that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had admitted to decades of discrimination against women within the institution, prompting a degree of soul-searching among higher education and a concerted effort on the part of scientific establishments to prioritize women. Now, Zernike has expanded this deeply impactful, still-relevant story into her latest book, The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science. The book centers on Hopkins, who, in the 1970s, led sixteen other women on the MIT faculty to catalogue and expose the lack of equality and sexist treatment they had experienced in their careers. The book paints a picture of the feminist movement at a moment when it seemed like misogyny in the professional world was a thing of the past, only for women, particularly those who were highly qualified, to discover that their accomplishments were still being underpaid, undervalued, and discredited. The Exceptions tells an important story of women who advocated for themselves and fought back against systemic injustice.

Join us as we welcome Kate back to the Rowayton Library for a presentation of her newly released work. There is no fee to attend, but we ask you to register here. Refreshments will also be served and books will available for purchase, from our friends at Barrett Bookstore, and signing the night of!

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