He earned his B.A. from the University of Utah, M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and Ph.D. from Cornell University. His expertise is in the effective management of human capital within entrepreneurial environments, especially family enterprise. In addition to working with his father (Ray H. Allen & Associates) as an accountant and consultant to family businesses and other privately held organizations, he has held positions in corporate finance at IBM and Hewlett Packard. He teaches entrepreneurship and family entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition, Professor Allen has been involved in executive education programs across the world with a special interest in Latin America.