Dr. Allen came to Vermont in 1967 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, where he studied with Therald Moeller. His research program has involved the study of inorganic rings and polymers. The inorganic ring chemistry presents interesting questions of electronic structure, reactivity and mechanism. Additionally, these ring systems may be transformed into hybrid inorganic-organic polymers which are new classes of materials with interesting properties having applications such as being flame retardant, polymeric electron transfer agents or as membranes. He has been a Senior Visitor at Oxford and Edinburgh and a consultant to several corporations.

He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers. He was named a UVM University Scholar for 1982-83, received the George V. Kidder Outstanding Faculty Award in 1986, was named a Mass High TECH "Allstar" in 2000, received the Dean's Lecture Award from the College of Arts and Sciences in 2004 and the Luther F. Hackett award from the Vermont Technology Council for contributions to economic development in Vermont in 2005. He was elected to the Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering in 2005. He served as the Director of the Vermont Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) from 1995-2005 and was the co PI on the first VGN award. In addition to being an Emeritus Professor, he is the outreach director for the VGN program and serves as the Senior Scientific Advisor to the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies.