John Chapman Hopkins was born on June 30, 1933 in Palo Alto, California. John married V. Adele on June 14, 1954 and had two children: Anna Adele an Barbara Ellen.

Hopkin was a scientist and test director as the J-division leader for the Nevada Test Site. In 1955 and 1956, Hopkins was a Los Alamos summer student.

Hopkins obtained a doctor of philosophy degree in physics from the University of Washington in 1960.

From 1960 to 1993 Hopkins was employed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).