Hampton resident, Stacie Ropka has been named a 2018 Women in Business honoree by Hartford Business Journal. Celebrating its 16th year, the annual awards program recognizes women who are leaders in their careers and community.

An accomplished scientist, Ropka is a practicing intellectual property rights attorney and partner at the Hartford law firm Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, where her expertise has proven valuable in complex patent litigation with biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Ropka earned a Ph.D. from SUNY Upstate Medical University in microbiology and immunology and an MBA, master’s and bachelor’s degrees from DePaul University, working in research at Northwestern University and SUNY in the fields of neurology, virology and immunology before earning a law degree at Syracuse University College of Law in 2005.

“Her in-depth scientific background helps her to understand even the most complex and sophisticated technologies,” Chad Landmon, Chairman of the firm’s intellectual property group said in a recent interview with The Hartford Courant, noting her “unwavering work ethic, intellectual prowess, charisma and approachable demeanor, legal acuity and business acumen”.

Ropka credits her success to “intellectual curiosity and stubbornness.”

It’s exciting – in the month when the term “glass ceiling” was coined forty years ago – to recognize a woman in our midst who’s broken through more than one.