Alumni

Alumni shaping Denver: Brian Vicente, Amendment 64

Alumni shaping Denver: Brian Vicente, Amendment 64

Brian Vicente (JD ’04) has been fighting the marijuana fight for more than a decade, most significantly as co-director and one of two primary authors of the 2012 measure that made Colorado the first state in the country to legalize recreational marijuana. These days Vicente and his 50-person firm, Vicente […]

"It’s been really cool to see those artists being able to take what they’re doing at Nocturne and further their art and their careers." Photo: Anthony Camera

Alumni shaping Denver: Nicole Mattson, Nocturne

Two years ago, Nicole Mattson (BSBA ’03, business; MBA ’12) and her husband, Scott, opened Nocturne, an upscale jazz club in Denver’s up-and-coming RiNo (River North) neighborhood. A hotspot for local jazz artists and aficionados — including faculty and students from the Lamont School of Music —t he club has […]

"As somebody who cares about connecting foreign-trained professionals to the same work they’ve been doing in their home countries, it’s a perfect time [in Denver]." Photo: Anthony Camera

Alumni shaping Denver: Hillary Frances, Emily Griffith Technical College

Hillary Frances (MA ’09, international and intercultural communications) is instructional dean of adult education and the Language Learning Center at Emily Griffith Technical College, where she helps prepare nontraditional students — including refugees and immigrants — for the workforce. The school’s bridge classes are designed to help adults who worked […]

"LoDo is one of the hottest markets in the country right now, and I think the Union Station development was the paramount catalyst for that." Photo: Anthony Camera

Alumni shaping Denver: CJ Chapman, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

A Denver native and East High School graduate who went to Princeton to play basketball, CJ Chapman (JD ’06) returned to his hometown after college to pursue a law degree at DU. He is now a partner and real estate lawyer at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he has negotiated […]

Alumni shaping Denver: Candi CdeBaca, Project VOYCE

Alumni shaping Denver: Candi CdeBaca, Project VOYCE

Candi CdeBaca (BS ’09, sociology; MSW ’09, social work) is co-founder and executive director of Project VOYCE, a nonprofit that mobilizes and trains Denver youth to work on problems in their schools and communities. Her goal is to prepare kids from Denver’s poorer neighborhoods to claim their seat at the […]

Pioneer Rodney Billups returns to campus as men’s basketball coach

Pioneer Rodney Billups returns to campus as men’s basketball coach

Rodney Billups never expected his career to turn out the way it did. He dreamed about playing professional basketball. He wanted to be a business owner. Retire early. Follow in the footsteps of his brother Chauncey Billups — the former NBA star and arguably the best player to ever come […]

Journalism grad is the voice of the Denver Broncos

Journalism grad is the voice of the Denver Broncos

For most Coloradans, autumn Sundays are synonymous with one thing — Denver Broncos football. DU alumnus Conor McGahey (BA ’07), who this year became the public-address announcer at Broncos home games, has a unique perspective on the blue-and-orange mania that overtakes Denver each weekend. In the booth for all of […]

Storm Peak co-founder uses MBA to build his brewery

Storm Peak co-founder uses MBA to build his brewery

Everything he needed to know about opening a brewery, Wyatt Patterson learned in business school. That’s because Patterson, like many graduate students at DU’s Daniels College of Business, entered his MBA program with a specific business idea in mind. For Patterson, that idea was Storm Peak Brewing Co., which he […]

Alumna Regan Linton named artistic director at Phamaly

Alumna Regan Linton named artistic director at Phamaly

Regan Linton, who received a master’s degree from DU’s Graduate School of Social Work in 2010, made theater history this fall when she became the first person in a wheelchair to be named artistic director of a major U.S. theater company. And it makes perfect sense that the company in […]

An alum-founded nonprofit envisions a healthier future for Denver’s Westwood neighborhood

An alum-founded nonprofit envisions a healthier future for Denver’s Westwood neighborhood

When the pair discovered that limited access to fresh, healthy food was one of the area’s biggest problems, they developed their signature Re:Farm program, which works with Westwood residents to build backyard gardens and community urban farms.

Journalism grad turns to documentary film to help whale sharks

Journalism grad turns to documentary film to help whale sharks

Neela Eyunni’s “On the Brink: Uncharted Waters” takes an in-depth look at the booming whale shark tourism industry in the Philippines and its potential threat to marine life.

Alumnus and Google employee shares his experience with other Pioneers

Alumnus and Google employee shares his experience with other Pioneers

Sam Estenson started in December 2015 as an operations coordinator on a global team that manages Google’s hiring systems and processes.