Raymond B. Allen (1902-1986) was an American educator. He served as the President of the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
from 1946 to 1951, and as the first Chancellor of the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
from 1951 to 1959.
Biography
Early life
Raymond Bernard Allen was born on August 7, 1902, in
Cathay, North Dakota.
[University of Washington Library](_blank)
/ref>[John T. McQuiston]
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', March 24, 1986[UCLA Past Leaders](_blank)
/ref> He attended the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
, where he received a PhD and MD.
Career
He started his career as a general practitioner in Minot, North Dakota
Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 2 ...
.[Raymond B. Allen, First Chancellor at UCLA, Dies at 83](_blank)
''The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', March 22, 1986
He served as Dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine
The University of Illinois College of Medicine offers a four-year program leading to the MD degree at four different sites in Illinois: Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, and formerly Urbana–Champaign. The Urbana–Champaign site stopped accepting ne ...
, Dean of the Wayne State University School of Medicine
The Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) is the medical school of Wayne State University, a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,500 students in undergraduate medical education, master's degree, P ...
and Associate Dean for graduate studies at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...
.
He served as President of the University of Washington from 1946 to 1951. He dismissed three Communist professors, arguing that "a Communist is incompetent to teach the truth." However, he refused to give a list of texts taught at UW to the House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...
.
Allen briefly served as chair of the newly created Armed Forces Medical Policy Council in 1949. He was Director of the Psychological Strategy Board in 1952.
When UCLA was granted co-equal status with UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
in 1951, its presiding officer was granted the title of chancellor. Allen was tapped as the newly autonomous UCLA's first chancellor, a post he held until 1959. He was recommended for the job by Robert Gordon Sproul, who served as President of the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...
serving from 1930 to 1958. During his tenure, the UCLA Medical Center was built and the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing were developed, as well as the Neuropsychiatric Institute. He resigned after a three-year investigation led to the revelation of corruption between football players and the Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including ...
.
He also served as Director of the Research and Population Dynamics for the Pan American Health Organization. He was a Fellow of the Mayo Foundation.
Personal life
He had two sons, Charles and Raymond B. Allen Jr., and two daughters, Dorothy Allen and Barbara Sheard. He retired in Virginia in 1967. He died on March 15, 1986, in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg w ...
, at the age of eighty-three.
Bibliography
*''Medical Education and the Changing Order'' (Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, includ ...
, 1946)
*
Communists Should Not Teach in American Colleges
' (1949)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Raymond B.
1902 births
1986 deaths
People from Wells County, North Dakota
People from Fredericksburg, Virginia
University of Minnesota Medical School alumni
University of Illinois faculty
Wayne State University faculty
Columbia Medical School faculty
Presidents of the University of Washington
Leaders of the University of California, Los Angeles
Anti-communism in the United States
American primary care physicians
20th-century American academics