Alumni

Alumnus Mark Shaker puts community first at Stanley Marketplace

Alumnus Mark Shaker puts community first at Stanley Marketplace

What do you feel like doing tonight? Drinking a Mexican craft beer? Getting a pedicure? Having dinner at a James Beard Award-nominated restaurant? Taking a kickboxing class? Letting the kids learn how to build a robot? All of this and more is on tap at Stanley Marketplace, founded by alumnus Mark Shaker.

"Young people are just looking for opportunities to connect and to be authentic and to have someone see them for who they are — as leaders and as influencers in our community," says Megan Devenport. Photo: Anthony Camera

Megan Devenport helps bridge gaps for young women

  For young women, growing up all too often means retreating into silence as male classmates seize the spotlight. For more than 20 years, Denver nonprofit Building Bridges — founded by two alumni of DU’s Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW) — has been helping young women from Denver Public […]

"[DU] completely formed the researcher that I am today,” says Azure Avery. Photo: Wayne Armstrong

Alumna Azure Avery masters the carbon nanotube

  Carbon nanotubes may be strangers to most, but for Azure Avery (PhD ’13), they hold the magic of a pink, feather-light sugar nest disappearing on a child’s tongue. “When raw, [carbon nanotube material] is this really soft, black, sooty-looking cotton candy,” Avery says. Those aren’t technical terms, and they […]

Paralympian Jamie Stanton finds new challenges on Wall Street

Paralympian Jamie Stanton finds new challenges on Wall Street

It’s been nearly a year since Jamie Stanton stood at the bottom of a ski hill in Pyeongchang, South Korea, chest heaving, eyes cast toward the electronic scoreboard. He still can’t find the words to describe the feeling, realizing he had won a bronze medal at the 2018 Paralympic Games. […]

"You get to meet people from all different walks of life, and you still get to operate a business," Jason Dorfman says of hotel management. "For me, it’s perfect." Photo: Anthony Camera

A life of luxury for alum Jason Dorfman, GM of new Cherry Creek hotel

Jason Dorfman’s career has been on the rise since he graduated from what is now DU’s Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management. After his first job with Marriott, Dorfman (BA ’05) was recruited by Denver-based Stonebridge Companies (founded by DU alumnus and trustee Navin Dimond), where he has worked for […]

Former Trustee and board chair Doug Scrivner and his wife, Mary Scrivner, donated $14 million to the University in September. Photo: Wayne Armstrong

$14 million gift will enhance study of public policy

To further develop the study of public policy and the cultivation of leadership at DU, former Trustee and board chair Doug Scrivner (JD ’77) and his wife, Mary Scrivner, donated $14 million to the University in September. DU’s Scrivner Institute of Public Policy, named in the couple’s honor, will combine […]

Former Pioneers basketball player Tyesha Lowery is a a quarterback and wide receiver on the Mile High Blaze women’s football team. Photo: Wayne Armstrong

Former DU basketball player reinvents herself on the football field

The knees don’t bend like they used to. The aches and pains are pretty much a constant now. Still, Tyesha Lowery’s gold-cleated feet dance nimbly around the cones on the grass. The way they used to on the basketball court. “They call me ‘Smooth’ now,” says Lowery (BSBA ’06, MA […]

Trevor Kilpatrick is an engineering manager at Denver's United Launch Alliance. Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance

MBA grad shoots for the stars at United Launch Alliance

  As an engineering manager at Denver-based United Launch Alliance (ULA), Trevor Kilpatrick shoots for the stars — or, more accurately, the planets — every day. A joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, ULA helps launch rockets for NASA, the Department of Defense and other government and commercial organizations. […]

DU honors 2018 class of Distinguished Alumni

DU honors 2018 class of Distinguished Alumni

DU recruited an accomplished group of graduates for its 2018 Distinguished Alumni Awards: Olympic ice skater and U.S. diplomat Michelle Kwan (BA ’09), retired New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Patricio Serna (JD ’70), and Joseph Saunders (BSBA ’67, MBA ’68), former chairman and CEO of Visa. All three were on […]

$5 million gift establishes new leadership academy

During Alumni Weekend in May, DU announced a $5 million gift from Joe and Sharon Saunders to establish the Saunders Leadership Academy. It is one of the largest endowed gifts in support of scholarships to the University in its history. The initiative includes traditional financial aid support, personal and pre-professional […]

As deputy superintendent at Denver Public Schools, Susana Cordova now leads the district that raised her.  Photo: Wayne Armstrong

Susana Cordova sticks to her roots

Getting ahead in life meant getting out of the community. At least that’s what everyone told Susana Cordova when they urged her to leave her Latino Denver neighborhood behind. An education was her chance to rise up, they said. To be more than a secretary or a factory worker like […]

Stuart Portman is Orrin Hatch’s resident expert and most trusted voice on the Affordable Care Act. Photo courtesy of Stuart Portman

Alum Stuart Portman brings health care expertise to Senate post

When the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history needs help understanding health care, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), 84, turns to a fresh-faced kid from St. Louis who is young enough to be his grandson. Stuart Portman (BA ’13), at just 27 years old, is the senator’s resident expert and most trusted […]

Geography grad pushes alternative transportation for city of Denver

Geography grad pushes alternative transportation for city of Denver

When Stephen Rijo came from his hometown in New Jersey to start his undergraduate education at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, his biggest adjustment had nothing to do with dorm food or the thin mountain air. It was more like, “Where are all the trains?” “I couldn’t believe there weren’t […]

Alumna shares the human side of climate change

Alumna shares the human side of climate change

When Dayna Reggero was younger, she was a talker. The University of Denver alumna took every opportunity to put her face on TV or get her name in the newspaper as she fought to protect the environment. Now, at age 37, she’s figured out it’s even more powerful to listen. […]

In hopes that students there will dedicate their lives to vital international causes, Grant Wilkins and his second wife, Marlene, created the Grant and Marlene Wilkins Endowed Scholarship Fund at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies.

Alumnus Grant Wilkins crusades against polio

Grant Wilkins (BA ’47) has dedicated his life to eradicating polio. For more than two decades he has traveled the globe, sharing his story in an effort to raise money for PolioPlus, a Rotary International Program aimed at eliminating the disease. He also distributes vaccines in the countries he visits. […]