In the span of an hour, senior psychology major Jenny Oertell watched an inconsolable autistic boy transform after listening to Mozart through special headphones and playing in a gym where a variety of textures, activities and colors were at his disposal.  As an intern at the Sensory Therapies and Research (STAR) […]

Anjali Nanda won’t earn a cent from her six-month internship starting next month, but the recent DU graduate is confident that the experience—working for the Robert Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights—will be worth the financial hardship. The Kennedy family founded the Washington, D.C., based memorial in 1968 to continue […]

After 60 years of teaching—on three campuses and under nine chancellors—Daniels College of Business Professor James “JJ” Johnston administered his last test in June. Johnston, who taught business law at DU since 1946, will remain with Daniels for the next year as a special adviser to Dean Karen Newman. The […]

Luke Wiedel was fishing by the age of 2 and even has photos of himself in diapers holding a fishing pole. His love for fishing, fascination with the environment and curiosity about the Alaskan wilderness and the Pacific Ocean led him to start his own company, Fera Alaskan Seafood LLC. […]

Jack Donnelly didn’t intend to become a pioneer in the study of human rights. As a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1970s, Donnelly says he stumbled upon the topic while searching for a dissertation subject. He was a political theory and international relations student at […]

Kathleen MacKenzie’s connection to the University of Denver has a history. The daughter of a DU graduate, some of her earliest memories include skating with her father at the old DU ice arena. As the second-term councilwoman for south Denver’s District 7—which includes DU and the surrounding neighborhoods—MacKenzie works with […]

Paul Fischer received his MA in American history from DU in 1976, just a year after returning from Ethiopia where, as a Peace Corps volunteer, he taught English in a rural high school. Since then, he’s been a business owner, public affairs specialist and even a diplomat for the U.S. […]

In northern Ghanaian villages, women tend bees and throw pots, generating products for the microbusinesses they established with the help of DU doctoral student and alumnus Ziblim Abukari. Abukari, who was the first person in his family to have any formal education, saw the affect he could have on “the […]

Although she lives and works 1,000 miles away in California, alumna Angela (Maestas) Robbins’ heart belongs at DU. As a senior educational administrator with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Robbins, BA ’91, coordinates a program that allows at-risk students to learn from DU professors. Each summer, she sends […]

Brandon Davis is racing his way through college. Literally. When the DU junior isn’t speed-reading through his business management textbooks, he’s speed shifting through the turns and twists of racetracks around the country. Davis hits the gas in one of his souped-up Acura racecars for 20 or 30 auto races […]

Don’t expect to find the video game “Juan and the Beanstalk” at Best Buy. Currently in development by Rafael Fajardo, players decide whether to grow coffee or opium in a multi-chapter game intended to express the social complexity of Columbia of the past 30 years. Fajardo, assistant professor of art […]

Melinda Pasquini was making pizza in her family’s Italian restaurant by the time she was 8. In old-world tradition, she worked alongside her immigrant parents and American-born siblings in the afternoons after school. Now in her early 30s, Pasquini is running two Front Range restaurants of her own while attending […]

International affairs master’s candidate Andrea Corey is one of a handful of students destined to change the face of American diplomacy through the Rangel International Affairs Diversity Program.  “For years, I have worked to create a mechanism to make our State Department and Foreign Service look like America,” says Rep. […]

Wyndol Furman, a professor in the Department of Psychology and an internationally renowned researcher in the area of adolescent psychology, juggles “behemoth” studies, mentors dozens of students and alumni, tracks his study participants all over the globe, and maintains a busy personal life. And yet, one task defies him. “My […]

Jayne Vahle, BA ’99, MA ’06, was trying to get her high school students to pay attention at an assembly when she heard her name called. To her surprise, the gathering was in her honor. The entire student body, faculty and staff of Bear Creek High School in Jefferson County […]