From Study Abroad to Dream Career
Eric Denker '75 speaks to a small-group tour in Bologna, Italy.
Alum recalls ‘transformative’ year in Italy
video by Joe O'Neill
What can a Dickinson study-abroad year do? For Eric Denker ’75, it was a transformative experience—one that guided him toward a new career direction and a career at one of the premier art institutions in the United States.
When Denker arrived in Bologna, Italy, for his study-aboad year, he was a political science major with a strong interest in art. Seeing Italian Renaissance masterworks in person inspired him deeply and clarified what he wanted to do with his life. When he returned to campus the following year, he was an art history major. And after graduate school, he launched a stellar career at the National Gallery of Art.
Over the years, Denker has given more than 8,000 tours and lectures to roughly a quarter of a million visitors to the National Gallery—among them dozens of celebrities, thought leaders and heads of state visiting Washington, D.C. He has also lectured and led tours at the Smithsonian and has led Dickinson alumni art events at home and abroad. Denker says his Dickinson liberal-arts education, combined with his study-abroad experience, placed his dream job within his sights and within his reach.
"It gave me an opportunity to discover art firsthand in a way I never had before," he says. "It was a completely life-changing experience, and I'm always grateful for that."
Learn more about Eric Denker ’75 and his art-filled, awe-inspired life.
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Published July 29, 2026