Presidential Plenary [presented in person and live streamed]

HOLDEN THORP

Holden Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals in October 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and professor from 2013 to 2023. He is currently a professor of chemistry and medicine at George Washington University and on leave to serve as the Editor-in-Chief at Science. Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013. Thorp earned a bachelor of science degree from UNC, a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral work at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from the Olin College of Engineering, Hofstra University, and North Carolina Wesleyan College and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Thorp cofounded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed VIVJOA (oteseconazole), now approved by the FDA and marketed by Mycovia Pharmaceuticals. Thorp is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, a consultant to Ancora, Huron, and Urban Impact Advisors, and is on the board of directors of PBS and Saint Louis University. He serves on the scientifi c advisory boards of the Yale School of Medicine and the Underwriters' Laboratories Research Institutes. In 2023, STAT named Thorp to its STATUS list of top leaders in the life sciences. In 2025, he was given the Donald A. B. Lindberg Award for Distinguished Health Communications by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms

Mayor of Atlanta (2018-2022); Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (2022-2023)

Keisha Lance Bottoms is a proven fighter with battle-tested executive experience. She is running for Governor of Georgia to deliver for working families and bring steady leadership to Georgia in the midst of uncertainty and chaos coming from Washington.

As Governor, Keisha will bring the strong leadership that Georgia needs during these tumultuous times. She will fight to expand Medicaid so that 300,000 Georgians can get the health care coverage they need and to prevent more hospitals - especially those in rural communities - from shutting their doors. Keisha will work to eliminate income taxes for teachers, crack down on corporate landlords that are buying up houses and making it harder for families to buy a home or afford rent, and she will invest in education so our children have better pathways to success through career training or college.

As Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha steered the city through extraordinary challenges, including a cyber-attack on city government, civil unrest, the pandemic, along with an unstable president and combative state leadership. She made major investments in affordable housing, delivered historic salary raises for police officers and firefighters, supported small businesses, balanced the budget and never raised property taxes. Keisha also helped make Atlanta a global business destination, welcoming nine Fortune 500 companies who established headquarters in Atlanta, helping the city add $11 billion to its total economic output and attracting $4.5 billion in total capital investment.

Keisha is at least a fifth generation Georgian and has served as a judge, city councilwoman, and mayor. She was called to public service to build opportunities for working families like the one she grew up in. Keisha and her husband, Derek, are parents to four children in Atlanta.