President Benjamin Allen |
Biography
Benjamin J. Allen was named the ninth president of the University of Northern Iowa on April 28, 2006, and assumed his duties on June 5, 2006. He received his doctorate and master’s degree in economics from the University of Illinois and his bachelor of science degree in business economics from Indiana University.
President Allen was vice president for academic affairs and provost at Iowa State University and was responsible to the president in all aspects of the academic programs at Iowa State. He has the distinction of having been named the first University Distinguished Professor in Business at ISU.
Before joining the ISU faculty in 1979, he taught at Washington State University and was a Brookings Economic Policy Fellow in the Office of Transportation Regulatory Policy, U.S. Department of Transportation. He was the Visiting McKinley Professor of Economics and Public Utilities at the University of Illinois in 1986-87 and held the Oren Harris Chair in Transportation at the University of Arkansas during the 1990-91 academic year.
In 2007, President Allen was appointed by two state college associations (the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges) to the Presidential Advisory Committee for the National Commission on University Accountability.
Under his leadership, the University of Northern Iowa has established priorities of increasing student achievement in undergraduate programs and providing statewide leadership in Pre-K through 12 education, including UNI’s lead role in the Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership with Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. He, along with the director of the Iowa Department of Education, is overseeing the development of the statewide Research and Development School.
President Allen is an ex-officio board member of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. He co-chaired the Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce, a non-profit educational foundation created to help prepare all Iowa learners for the 21st century global marketplace. A staunch supporter of the local community, President Allen is a member of the executive committee of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance.
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