Dr. Dennis is an alumnus of UMass with a master's degree from Oxford's Pembroke College who took his Ph.D. in English from Princeton and taught there, at Michigan and at the University of London before joining Penn's English department in 1979. While teaching Medieval and Renaissance literature he also served as assistant chair for overseas program, inaugurating the Penn/Kings College program with the University of London. His wife, Dr. Vicki Mahaffey, was also a Faculty Fellow in Hill House.