Allen studied medicine at the University of Rochester and supported himself by working as an assistant in his anatomy professor, George W. Corner’s embryology laboratory. Corner and Allen are credited with the discovery of progestin, the original name for progesterone and not to be confused with progestin, a synthetic progestogen, in 1930 and the first isolation of progesterone in 1933 (described below and in W.M. Allen "My Life with Progesterone", 2005 below). He graduated with honors in 1932. Allen received the first Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry in 1935. After several years of teaching at Rochester, Allen was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis. He contributed original papers on the histology and physiology of the female reproductive organs, bringing him many national and international awards. He was the first graduate of the Medical School in Rochester to be elected to that university's board of trustees.
