Denny Simmons is a staff photographer at the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press. Previously he worked as a picture editor at the News Sun (Waukegan, Ill.) and the St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press. Before that he was a staff photographer at the Jacksonville (Ill.) Journal-Courier. Simmons graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1993 after winning the College Photographer of the Year title for work done in 1992-93. He has interned at National Geographic Magazine and the Joplin (Mo.) Globe.

He was named NPPA Region 4 Photographer of the Year in 2002 and 2004 and Indiana News Photographers Association Photographer of the Year. He also was awarded the John Alhauser Award twice for his work on the photo column "Highways and Byways - A weekly photographic report". He currently serves as NPPA Region 4 Director. Simmons grew up in the Long Beach, Ca., area. He and his wife, Penny, have two children and live in Paradise, Ind.