Written by: Drew Yarbrough August 28, 2024 Celebrating the life and academic accomplishments of UAH business professor Dr. David Allen Dr. David Allen, an economics faculty member at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) College of Business (COB), has died. The COB will host a memorial service for the UAH community, including alumni, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at 3 p.m. in the Business Administration Building. On Aug. 22, 2024, the university was notified that Allen died from natural causes at his home. Allen’s death was unexpected, and his loss is felt across UAH’s campus. Allen, who recently celebrated his 30-year anniversary as a faculty member at UAH, was a professor of economics and computation analysis. He was an accomplished researcher and was highly esteemed by students for his teaching and passion for the subject matter. "Dr. Allen made a tremendous impact on generations of students at UAH,” said Dr. Jason T. Greene, dean of the UAH COB. “Those who were fortunate enough to take his classes, especially his sports economics class, remember his passion for the subject matter and the enthusiasm he had for them to learn economics." Throughout his tenure, Allen was nominated numerous times for the college’s outstanding teaching award, and was recognized with multiple faculty fellowships and research grants, best paper awards, teaching awards and outstanding research awards. Over the course of his professional career, Allen had a profound impact on the field of economics, with expertise in crime and victimization, labor and demographic economics, sports economics and time allocation. He authored and co-authored more than 40 publications, many of which appeared in leading academic journals. "Dr. Allen truly loved research,” said Dr. Xuejing Xing, department chair of accounting, economics and finance. “He consistently produced high-impact research year after year for more than three decades. Even as a senior professor, he continued to keep his research pipeline flowing with manuscripts, projects and ideas. His intellectual curiosity remained amazingly strong. His work has considerably advanced several areas in economics and has been widely cited by researchers worldwide." Allen also enthusiastically led and organized the college’s Friday Afternoon Research Group, which allowed business faculty members to present in-progress research and gain constructive feedback from their peers. “Dr. Allen cared deeply about the progress of his colleagues’ research,” said Dr. Yeqing Bao, department chair of management and marketing. “As an accomplished researcher himself, Dr. Allen would frequently volunteer to review and provide feedback on colleagues’ research manuscripts. His constructive reviews were particularly inspiring and beneficial to many fellow researchers, especially junior colleagues.” Outside of UAH, Allen enjoyed traveling the world to visit friends and colleagues. He was known to visit universities and take pictures of notable college campuses. He was also a passionate sports fan, closely following the San Francisco 49ers and Vancouver Canucks. He was a loyal supporter and constant figure in the stands to watch the UAH hockey team. Allen had a love for music, building an extensive collection of his favorite artists’ works, and he was a longtime supporter of the Special Olympics. For more information on the memorial service, please contact Vangie Harris, vangie.harris@uah.edu.
