Allen received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Colorado College in 1966 and a PhD in chemical physics from the University of Southern California in 1971. She worked as a member of the technical staff at Hughes Research Laboratories beginning in 1973 but returned to USC in 1977, serving as a research scientist and research professor. In 1987, she became a professor of chemistry and electrical and computer engineering at the Center for Laser Science and Engineering at the University of Iowa, where she worked for five years until being named dean of the graduate school at Tulane University in 1992, as well as vice president for research and professor of chemistry, electrical engineering, and computer science. She left Tulane in 1996 to become professor of chemistry at Florida State University, where she also held a joint appointment as professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Florida A&M University – Florida State University College of Engineering. From 1996 to 1999, she also served as vice president for research at FSU.
