Robert Harold Denton was born in Jewell, Kansas in 1910. Denton lived with his widowed mother and sister Grace Elizabeth. He suffered from infantile paralysis, causing him to be disabled for life. He was granted the Summerfield Scholarship to attend KU in 1929, the first year the scholarship was established. The scholarship was awarded based on academic ability and moral character. During his time at KU, Denton was on honor roll, the first non-fraternity President of the Men's Student Council, a member of the Owl Society, Pi Sigma Alpha, and many other honor societies. He was nominated to be a Rhodes Scholar and in 1933 was presented KU's highest accolade, the Honor Man award. Denton majored in political science and economics and continued his education at Yale Law School. He took a leave of absence from Yale to work at the Tennessee Valley Authority and never returned. Denton married Mary Laura, who also worked at the Tennessee Valley Authority. Denton went on to work for the Department of Labor, the Temporary National Economic Committee, Department of Commerce, and Central Housing Committee. He did private sector work from 1947-1960 including consulting and retired in 1979 in Arlington, Virginia.