Distinguished Professor of Education, Sociology, and African American Studies; Allan Murray Cartter Professor of Higher Education; Director of the Capacity Building Center; Director of CHOICES.
The recipient of numerous honors, including the Scholars of Color Distinguished Career Contribution Award from the American Educational Research Association in 2016, Dr. Allen came to UCLA in 1988 as a Professor of Sociology. He is the Allan Murray Cartter Professor of Higher Education at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (GSE&IS) and has spearheaded several research initiatives, including the Educational Diversity Project and the Choices Project. Dr. Allen additionally serves as the director of UCLA’s Capacity Building Center, where research is put to action through activism.
Teaching and Research Interests:
- Comparative race, ethnicity, and inequality
- Diversity in higher education
- Family studies
Education
- Postdoctoral Study, Psycho-Social Epidemiology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1979
- Ph.D., Sociology, University of Chicago, 1975
- M.A., Sociology, University of Chicago, 1973
- B.A., Sociology, Beloit College (Wisconsin), 1971
Selected Publications
- Fuller, T. L., Narins, T. P., Nackoney, J., Bonebrake, T. C., Sesink Clee, P., Morgan, K., … & Smith, T. B.. Assessing the impact of China’s timber industry on Congo Basin land use change. Area, 51(2), 340-349, 2019.
- McAdoo, D., Jones, C. M., & Allen, W. R. “Recruiting, Retaining, and Engaging African-American Males at Selective Public Research Universities: Challenges and Opportunities in Academics and Sports,” Shades of Black: Black male law school enrollment by ethnic status, 249-264, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing 2018.
- Allen, R. Walter, Channel McLewis, Chantal Jones, and Daniel Harris, “From Bakke to Fisher: African American Students in U.S. Higher Education over Forty Years,” The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 4, 6, 41-72, 2018.
- Huerta, A.H., McDonough, P.M. & Allen, W.R. ‘“You can go to college’: Employing a Developmental Perspective to Examine How Young Men of Color Construct a College-Going Identity”. Urban Rev 50, 713–734, 2018.
- Vue R, Haslerig SJ, Allen WR. “Affirming Race, Diversity, and Equity Through Black and Latinx Students’ Lived Experiences,” American Educational Research Journal, 54, 5, 868-903, 2017.
- William A. Smith, Jalil Bishop Mustaffa, Chantal M. Jones, Tommy J. Curry and Walter R. Allen “‘You make me wanna holler and throw up both my hands!’: campus culture, Black misandric microaggressions, and racial battle fatigue,” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29, 9, 1189-1209, 2016.
- Uma Jayakumar, Rican Vue, Walter Allen “Pathways to College for Young Black Scholars: A Community Cultural Wealth Perspective,” Harvard Educational Review, 83, 4, 551–579, 2013.
- Newman, C.B., Mmeje, K. and Allen, W.R., “African American men at predominantly white institutions of higher education. Black males in postsecondary education: Examining their experiences in diverse institutional contexts,” Historical Legacy, Ongoing Reality, 89-106, 2012.
- Allen, Walter R., Robert T. Teranishi, and Marguerite Bonous-Hammarth. “As the World Turns: Implications of Global Shifts in Higher Education for Theory, Research, and Practice.” Advances in Education in Diverse Communities: Research, Policy and Praxis, 7, 2012.
- Allen, Walter R., Evellyn Elizondo, and Miguel Ceja. “No Color Systems and College Readiness.” Research on Schools, Neighborhoods, and Communities, in press, 2011.
- Allen, Walter R., Erin Kimura-Walsh, Kimberly A. Griffin. “Towards a Brighter Tomorrow: Collge barriers, hopes and plans of Black, Latino/a and Asian American students in California.” Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2009.
- Allen, Walter R., Uma M. Jayakumar, and Ray Franke. Till Victory is Won: The African American Struggle for Higher Education in California. Los Angeles: “CHOICES” Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA, 2009.
- Panter, A.T., Daye, C.E., Allen, W.R., Wightman, L.F. and Deo, M. “Everyday Discrimination in a National Sample of Incoming Law Students.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education 1, 67-79.
- Allen, Walter R., Joseph O. Jewell, Kimberly A. Griffin, and De’Sha Wolf. “Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Then and Now.” In V. G. Thomas and F. C. Jones-Wilson, eds., Journal of Negro Education 76, 3: 263-280. 2007.
- Allen, Walter R., Marguerite Bonous-Hammarth, and Robert Teranishi (eds.).Higher Education in a Global Society: Achieving Diversity, Equity, and Excellence. Oxford, England: Elsevier Publishers, 2006.
- Allen, Walter R., Uma M. Jayakumar, Kimberly A. Griffin, William S. Korn, and Sylvia Hurtado. Black Undergraduates from Bakke to Grutter: Freshmen Status, Trends and Prospects, 1971-2004. Los Angeles: UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, 2005.
- Allen, Walter R., Margaret Beale Spencer, and Carla OConnor, eds. African American Education: Race, Community, Inequality and Achievement – A Tribute to Edgar G. Epps. London: JAI Press, Inc., 2002.
Selected Awards, Honors, & Fellowships
- Dr. John Hope Franklin Award, 2020
- National Academy of Education Member, 2018
- AERA Scholars of Color Distinguished Career Contribution Award, 2016
- Career Achievement Award, Recognized for career contributions to education, Stovall Uplift Education Foundation, 2011
- Nominated for President, Association for Study of Higher Education, 2010
- AERA Fellows Award, Distinguished research career, American Educational Research Association, 2009
- Presidential Citation, American Educational Research Association, 2008
- Finalist for President, American Educational Research Association, 2003
- Special Merit Award, Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2002
- DuBois- Johnson-Frazier Award, American Sociological Association, 2002
- Finalist for President, American Sociological Association, 1997
- Ellis Joseph Distinguished Scholar Award, University of Dayton, 1997
- Harriet and Charles Luckman Distinguished Teaching Award, UCLA, 1996
- Outstanding Community Service Award, Drew/RAND Center on Health and Aging, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 1996
- Distinguished Career Award, Association of Black Sociologists, 1995
- Research Excellence Award, American Educational Research Association, 1993
