John W. Hickenlooper was sworn in as Denver's 43rd mayor during an inauguration ceremony at Boettcher Concert Hall on July 21, 2003. After graduating from Wesleyan University with a BA in English and an MS in Geology, he found himself in Denver. He was employed as an exploration geologist with Buckhorn Petroleum for five years until the regional collapse of the oil business. During the mid-80s, he spent time working on the states first brewpub, the Wynkoop Brewing Company. In 1988, he opened the 10,000-square-foot Wynkoop restaurant/brewpub in the renovated J.S. Brown Mercantile Building (constructed in 1899). The brewpub has expanded numerous times and is still one of the largest brewpubs in the world. Over the years, The Wynkoop Brewing Company has acquired many other Denver landmarks. For his efforts, he received a National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Additionally, he has served on more than thirty boards for various charities in the Denver area.John lives with his wife, Helen Thorpe, a writer, and their son Teddy in Denver. He is the cousin of director George Hickenlooper.