Fall Purpose Dinner

Allegra Aron

Allegra T. Aron was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her undergraduate education at Brown University, where she majored in Chemistry and performed bioinorganic chemistry research in the laboratory of Dr. Eunsuk Kim. Allegra then moved to the University of California, Berkeley for her graduate studies. Here, she explored interdisciplinary approaches to studying metal homeostasis in cells and animals in Professor Christopher J Chang’s group, including the use of various chemoproteomic strategies. As a graduate student, Allegra developed the first ratiometric and bioluminescent sensors for ferrous iron, and she was a recipient of NSF Graduate fellowship and the WCC Merck Research Award. For her postdoctoral training, Allegra moved to the University of California, San Diego to develop new mass spectrometry-based strategies for finding novel metal-binding small molecules from complex microbial systems. As a postdoc, Allegra received numerous travel awards, including the ASMS Fall Workshop Travel Award, and invited seminars at Oakridge National Laboratories and the Tubingen Metabolomics Summer School in Germany. Almost three years ago, Allegra moved to the University of Denver (DU) as an assistant professor. Her lab develops technologies for discovering and elucidating functions of microbial metal-binding molecules with important biological applications, ranging from biomining to human health. Since starting at DU, Allegra has been named a Webb-Waring Early Career Biomedical Researcher, has won an NSF CAREER award, and has received an R35 MIRA award through the National Institutes of Health. When she is not in the lab, she enjoys rock climbing, trail running, and skiing, and happily calls Colorado her home.

Todd Rinehart

Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, this Midwest transplant has made Colorado home for over 20 years! I joined DU in 1997, and eventually became the associate vice chancellor and director of undergraduate admission. In 2017, I transitioned to serve as DU’s vice chancellor for enrollment, where I oversee undergraduate admission and financial aid for the University.



There are many great things about DU I admire – our beautiful campus, our setting in the great city of Denver and state of Colorado, and of course, a myriad of rigorous and reputable academic programs – but the “people” are the reason I’ve stayed for more than two decades. Our faculty and staff, including my colleagues in admission and financial aid, as well as our students, are some of the most intelligent, inspiring, and caring people I’ve encountered in my personal and professional lives. They keep me motivated to come to work every day to provide a transformational experience for our students!



In my spare time, I love spending time with my family doing all things “Colorado” – hiking, camping, golfing, biking, and skiing! We also love heading downtown for dinner at one of Denver’s hundreds of amazing restaurants or a show at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. One unique fact –my wife Melissa is the coach of DU’s nationally ranked gymnastics team – so many of our weekends during the winter and spring months (when I’m not skiing) are spent in the gym cheering on the Pioneers!

LP Picard

LP Picard is a Teaching Professor in the University Writing Program. Upon earning her MFA in Creative Writing, LP joined DU’s faculty in 2012 and has been teaching courses on the rhetoric of pop culture. LP’s current scholarship examines the rhetorical opportunities of drag performance and considers turnabout drag shows as sites of community writing/building. This work draws from her experiences as a drag king with the Denver Gay & Lesbian Flag Football League, for which she is the Deputy Commissioner and Director of Outreach.

Wyatt Sassman

Wyatt Sassman's teaching and research focus on the public's role in environmental and natural resources law, with a focus on the role of local communities in the energy transition. His recent research has appeared or will appear in the UCLA Law Review, Connecticut Law Review, Washington Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, and Environmental Law, as well as other journals. Professor Sassman is also a co-author of the forthcoming edition of the Natural Resources Law casebook published by West Academic.



Professor Sassman teaches the Environmental Law Clinic, where he supervises students representing local communities and citizen advocacy groups in a wide range of environmental matters. Professor Sassman and his students represent communities before administrative agencies and federal and state courts, including Colorado's water courts. Professor Sassman also teaches courses on Natural Resources Law and Environmental Justice. Professor Sassman's research and advocacy focuses on building democracy through the energy transition. His research develops policy frameworks that enable communities to lead the transition away from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. His scholarship has received several honors and recognitions. His 2024 article published in the UCLA Law Review on how oil & gas developers exercise power over communities was highlighted as one of the best new articles in law and political economy. His 2023 article in the Connecticut Law Review developing a policy framework for how to phase-out oil & gas drilling was honored by the Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review as a top twenty article on environmental issues for policymakers. And his 2021 article in the Washington Law Review on how to reform federal environmental permitting regulations to empower communities in the process of building clean energy infrastructure was selected through a peer-review process as one of four top environmental law articles that year and was reprinted in the Land Use & Environmental Law Review (2022-2023)



Before joining the University of Denver faculty, Professor Sassman taught for two years as a fellow with the Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center, working with students on public-interest litigation in the federal appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. He also worked as an associate attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center and clerked for Judge Gilbert S. Merritt, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Dr. Erin Anderson-Camenzind

Dr. Erin K. Anderson-Camenzind is the 4D Experience Director of Faculty Innovation and a Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Denver. In her work as an artist/researcher/teacher/leader, she holds space for the question: How can we cultivate character, creativity, community, and well-being in the face of illness, death, and loss?

John Sebesta

John is the Koch Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and a professor of the practice at the Daniels College of Business. He has taught entrepreneurship at Daniels since 2020. John also taught social entrepreneurship throughout Central America and is a proven entrepreneur with experience in sustainable real estate development and technology startups. With over 10 years of international business management and negotiation experience in a Fortune 50 firm, John also understands the opportunities and challenges for large multinational corporations.

John’s research focuses on understanding how to support the effectiveness of entrepreneurs at the micro (cognitive), meso (organizational roles) and macro (ecosystem) levels, with an emphasis on making entrepreneurship more accessible to disadvantaged groups.

Savannah Pine

Dr. Savannah Pine (she/her) is originally from El Paso, Texas. She received her B.A. degrees in History and European Studies from the University of Kansas. She did her graduate study in the United Kingdom and received her PhD and Master of Philosophy degree in Medieval History from the University of Cambridge. She is now a Fellowships Advising in DU’s Office of Scholar Development & Fellowships Advising, helping DU students and alumni apply for fellowships to support a purposeful activity and reach their goals.