The middle of twelve children born to a Baptist preacher, Dr. Allen was swept up by the National Defense Education Act in the country's excited reaction to the Soviet Union's launch of "Sputnik." He was sent to Virginia to acquire greater facility and interest in the study of science at Virginia Union University in Richmond. However, a growing interest in politics and philosophy displaced his aptitude for science. He migrated to California to undertake undergraduate study (Pepperdine College) and eventually graduate education (Claremont Graduate School), obtaining a Ph.D. in government. During his graduate study, he became a Fulbright Fellow, in which role he taught French university students American culture, while completing a dissertation on French contributions to American political culture.
His commitment to liberal education and to public service became the clearest consistent themes in his career - illustrated by everything from his undergraduate attempt to pay for college by selling the Great Books of the Western World to his eventual appointment to serve on the National Council for the Humanities by President Reagan. A career of continuous academic progress has been regularly punctuated by attention to public service. The high point of that public service undoubtedly was Dr. Allen's appointment as member and chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He also has served on the boards of the Hoover Institution and St. John's College.
Formerly Director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) while on leave from MSU, Dr. Allen is a Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. He held the leadership position at SCHEV from June 12, 1998 to August 2, 1999, managing a 45-member staff and the state government agency's $57 million operations and grants appropriation for higher education. Dr. Allen oversaw a comprehensive reorganization of Council staff and operations. The restructuring broadly organized the agency in line with its two statutory obligations - public policy recommendations, and administration of educational programs. Under his guidance the agency developed major strategic planning, funding formula, program assessment, and general education recommendations.
Prior to serving at SCHEV, Dr. Allen served as Dean and Professor at James Madison College, Michigan State University. As Dean of James Madison College, he led the College in five years to broad national recognition as a center of liberal education, reanimated faculty and student life, and dramatically increased faculty productivity.
Dr. Allen taught before at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. Recognized for excellence in liberal education on the 1997 Templeton Honor Roll (individually and institutionally), he also has been a Kellogg National Fellow and a Fulbright Fellow and has received the international Prix Montesquieu.
Professor Allen received appointment as the 2008-09 Visiting Senior Scholar in the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good at Villanova University. He was recently the Ann & Herbert W. Vaughan Visiting Fellow in the James Madison Program on American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is an expert on liberal arts education, its history, importance and problems. He is also Chairman and co-founder of Toward A Fair Michigan, whose mission was to further understanding of the equal opportunity issues involved in guaranteeing civil rights for all citizens, and to provide a civic forum for a fair and open exchange of views on the question of affirmative action.
Dr. Allen has published extensively, most notably, George Washington: A Collection (Liberty Press). In 2008 appeared George Washington: America s First Progressive (Peter Lang, Inc.), and The Personal and the Political: Three Fables by Montesquieu (UPA). Re-Thinking Uncle Tom: The Political Philosophy of H. B. Stowe (Lexington Books) appears early in 2009. He previously published Habits of Mind: Fostering Access and Excellence in Higher Education (with Carol M. Allen; Transaction), The Essential Antifederalist (with Gordon Lloyd, Rowman & Littlefield) and The Federalist Papers: A Commentary (Peter Lang, Inc.).
The middle of twelve children born to a Baptist preacher, Dr. Allen was swept up by the National Defense Education Act in the country's excited reaction to the Soviet Union's launch of "Sputnik." He was sent to Virginia to acquire greater facility and interest in the study of science at Virginia Union University in Richmond. However, a growing interest in politics and philosophy displaced his aptitude for science. He migrated to California to undertake undergraduate study (Pepperdine College) and eventually graduate education (Claremont Graduate School), obtaining a Ph.D. in government. During his graduate study, he became a Fulbright Fellow, in which role he taught French university students American culture, while completing a dissertation on French contributions to American political culture.