Dennis earned a A.B. in Physics from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Duke University.  He worked in microelectronics, photonics, ultrasonics, and signal processing as a member of the technical staff at the Texas Instruments Central Research Laboratories and a Group Leader in Acousto-Optics at Harris Corporation (now L3Harris).  He founded and scaled VC-backed optical information processing startup, Photonic Systems. Under his leadership, the firm became the technical leader in the field.  Merging with VC-backed Milcom Technologies, a seed-stage technology commercialization venture fund (now Arsenal Venture Partners), he became the Director of Optics and Photonics evaluating Department of Defense funded optical, semiconductor, and communication technologies at DoD primes to assess their maturity and competitive advantage.  There, he was part of a team that launched technology companies in partnership with defense contractors including BAE, Boeing, ITT, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, federal laboratories including Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, Sandia, Lawrence Livermore and other leading-edge research and development sources.  Fourteen companies were launched through the fund, attracting over $600M in venture capital.

Most recently he cofounded and is the Managing Member of the seed capital firm SeedFundersOrlando where he has led 20 angel investments in early-stage tech startups. He has also managed VentureScaleUp, an accelerator program for high-growth tech entrepreneurs and taught Technology Entrepreneurship as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Central Florida. He is on the Board of the Florida Venture Forum and on the Board of Advisors of the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship.