Dennis was born in Konstanz, Germany and grew up in San Diego, California. He began his education at UC Berkeley in 2006 and did his undergrad research with Dr. Yi Liu at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2010, Dennis found his way into grad school and Prof. J. Fraser Stoddart's lab at Northwestern where he crystallized metal-organic frameworks and organic ferroelectrics before graduating in June 2014. He then did a postdoctoral stint in Prof. Samuel I. Stupp’s group, working on self-assembling materials. Dennis' independent career at Macalester College began in August 2015, where he is teaching organic chemistry and mentoring research students. Outside of chemistry, Dennis tries to balance his lifestyle with passions for photography, travel, Houston Rockets basketball, and various random hobbies.