About

The Denver Publishing Institute is proud to have welcomed so many skilled students into the program and prepared them for their post-graduation success. Our faculty, who are passionate about the world of publishing, bring with them years of expertise and a commitment to providing students a foundation to break into the publishing industry.

You can find more here about our Institute's long history of training new students, meet our wonderful faculty and read about what DPI alumni are doing in the publishing world.

Meet Our Team

 
Jill Smith

Jill N. Smith

Director, Denver Publishing Institute

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Jennifer S. Conder

Jennifer S. Conder

Associate Director

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Margaret Shaheen

Margaret L. Shaheen

Program Coordinator

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About the Denver Publishing Institute

In the summer of 2025, the Denver Publishing Institute will celebrate 50 years of training new talent for the book publishing industry. In July 1976, the first group of 85 students traveled from all around the country and the globe to the University of Denver to learn about how books are published.

Elizabeth Geiser, the founding director of the program, designed the curriculum, recruited the faculty and students, and ran the program while maintaining her position at Gale Research. Elizabeth was beloved for her fierce devotion to the Publishing Institute, the students and the world of books.

Since that first year, over 4,000 bright and gifted students have graduated from the Publishing Institute and can be found at work in every aspect of our business—trade and textbooks, children's and scholarly books, design and production specialists, sales reps and literary agents, editors, marketers and publishers.

The publishing professionals who comprise our speaking roster are the ones who make it happen. More than 250 executives from every area of the business have traveled to Denver and generously shared their expertise and their enthusiasm.

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