News and Progress

Mizzou education, talent and ingenuity propel recent alums into the spotlight

Meet three Mizzou graduates poised for greatness early in their careers.

Jan. 4, 2005

In a survey of 2002 and 2003 MU graduates, 87 percent of those in the job market found employment soon after graduation. They have stepped onto the first rung of their respective career ladders and have begun to climb toward dream jobs.

The three young alumni featured here have climbed quickly with their Mizzou education, talent and ingenuity. Scientist Dee Denver, opera singer Ryan MacPherson and public policy analyst Melissa Saddler work in vastly different fields, but they have one thing in common: They already are notable MU alumni.

Evolutionary Research

As a biological sciences major at MU, Dee Denver, BS ’96, entered a university laboratory for the first time. He started out as a lowly lab rat, helping with experiments and cleaning test tubes, but he soon got enough hands-on experience to know that this was what he wanted to do with his life.

Dee Denver

“I figured out that the lab was a comfortable place for me,” he says.

Now a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University, Denver has conducted a provocative experiment, published in the Aug. 5, 2004, issue of the prestigious journal Nature. Seeking to measure the mutation rate of a DNA molecule, Denver designed an experiment using hermaphroditic roundworms with a lifespan of only four days. Over the course of about five years, he and his colleagues were able to track 400 generations of the worm. When they sampled the worms’ DNA, they found that the mutation rate was about 10 times higher than most previous estimates. The mutation rate of DNA has been found to be fairly constant from species to species, so the experiment has implications for more than just worms.

“This is a major underpinning of biology,” Denver says. His findings, if substantiated by other studies, could revolutionize how scientists research cancer, study human genetics and think about evolution.

After the Nature study was published, Denver received an invitation he couldn't refuse from a scientist in New Zealand. The other scientist has access to a completely isolated colony of penguins in Antarctica, where the frozen bones of generations of penguins are preserved on the tiny island where they live. Denver will soon travel to New Zealand to sample DNA from those excavated bones, which will allow him to estimate the penguin population's rate of evolution.

“This presents a unique opportunity where we can go back in evolutionary time,” Denver explains. The roundworms gave him a controlled experiment, focusing solely on mutation. The penguins offer a much more complicated look at mutation-driven evolution in the real world.

Denver is working to expand human understanding of how species evolve over time, and his creative, potentially far-reaching scientific research makes him a strong candidate as he interviews for faculty positions at major research institutions across the country.

Someday, Denver’s work might even become part of the curriculum of MU's introductory undergraduate genetics class, the very course that pointed him toward biology in the first place.

Thoroughly Modern Tenor

When tenor Ryan MacPherson, BES ’97, stepped onto the New York City Opera stage for the 2004 world premiere of Haroun and the Sea Stories, some 40 MU friends and alumni, including Chancellor Emeritus Richard Wallace, were there to applaud his performance. MacPherson is still touched by their presence.

Ryan MacPherson has performed with several renowned opera companies, including the New York City Opera.

“Through all of my friends and all of my colleagues, I know no other singer who has received the kind of support I have gotten from the University of Missouri,” MacPherson says.

But the support MacPherson receives isn’t mere boosterism. Alumni have good reason to be proud of this rising tenor. New York City Opera, the second largest opera company in the country in terms of season size, has helped launch the careers of such luminaries as Beverly Sills and Samuel Ramey. The New York Times review of Haroun described MacPherson, who sang the role of Iff the genie, as a standout. One review of his portrayal of Rodolfo in Opera Memphis’ 2003 production of La Bohème raved: “His heartfelt vocal performance flew on wings of idealism.”

MacPherson has received attention not only for his considerable talent but also for his willingness to take on challenging new music. He has created and covered roles in world premieres of several other operas, including the musical drama Corps of Discovery, commissioned and produced by MU in 2003. He has been invited to perform new concert works as well.

In 2005, MacPherson will make his international debut in Japan when the New York City Opera presents the Asian premiere of Little Women, a relatively new opera by the company's composer-in-residence, Mark Adamo. MacPherson is excited to be introducing the role of Laurie to a fresh audience.

“That’s one of the great things about American opera companies and American opera,” he says. “There’s a newfound interest and cultivation of new works.”

In fact, MacPherson first developed his taste for contemporary American opera when he sang the lead tenor role in Susannah, Carlisle Floyd's 1955 opera set in the American South.

And where did MacPherson have that opportunity? As an undergraduate at MU.

Analysis in Action

Thousands of people apply annually for the Environmental Protection Agency Intern Program, a full-time employment and career development program with a guaranteed job offer at the end of two years. Only about 25 applicants are chosen for the prestigious positions, and in 2004, one of them was Melissa Saddler, MPA ’04.

Melissa Saddler

A graduate of MU's Truman School of Public Affairs, Saddler says it has been exciting to put her education to use.

“Just having my undergraduate degree, I felt I needed more preparation to enter the workforce,” she says. “My public policy specialization at the Truman School prepared me for work at the EPA.” Saddler’s intensive study of policy analysis, in particular, has put her in good stead in her new position.

Saddler currently works in the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, but her internship will afford her the opportunity to rotate through other offices in the EPA and related government agencies of her choosing. For example, she is interested in spending time on Capitol Hill as an adviser to a senator, ideally one serving on the environment and public works committee. Her internship can make that happen.

At the conclusion of the two-year internships, Saddler will have an impressive résumé that could take her just about anywhere. But work at the EPA is much more than a career builder for Saddler; it’s a passion.

“I think that we all have a responsibility to our planet,” she says. “Future generations will hold us accountable, and the government needs responsible environmental caretakers to make sure that we protect our world.”

The work she does isn’t necessarily glamorous. She isn’t perched atop a redwood to save it from being felled, but at her desk, measuring whether states have reached set environmental standards and developing strategies to help them better reach those goals, she is confident she can achieve real results.

“I feel like I can make a difference,” she says. “I know the things I do are impacting the future.”