Richard Allen was born in Swampscott, MA, and served in the Navy during World War II and the Army during the Korean War. After law school, he taught at George Washington Law School before coming to Hamline as Dean. Allen’s scholarly work during this period included Readings In Law and Psychiatry.
Under his leadership, the law school achieved full accreditation from the American Bar Association and built a new law center on the Hamline campus, celebrated in a 1980 dedication ceremony featuring Justice Harry Blackmun. The law school also increased its library holdings and its admissions standards significantly. Dean Allen oversaw the beginning of Advanced Legal Education, Hamline’s CLE arm; its Lawyering Skills program; and its Community Law program, in which law students taught street law in high schools.
Allen later became a Fulbright Scholar, teaching In Swaziland. After his deanship, Allen retired to Fort Myers, FL, where he led local efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Democratic Party. He also read to the blind through the Radio Reading Service.