Dean Lawrence Allen, Ph.D.
Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Allen serves as Dean of the College of Health, Education, and Human Development at Clemson University. He assumed this position on August 16, 2001. Prior to becoming Dean, Dr. Allen served as Associate Dean for Research and Curriculum Development for the College. From 1989 to 1996, he served Clemson as Head of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management.
Dr. Allen earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and has held academic appointments with Hood College, the University of Maryland and the University of Wyoming. He has also served as a 4-H agent, recreation center supervisor and public school teacher. In 1984, he served as Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Temple University and from 1986 to 1989 he was Head of the Department of Leisure Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Allen is involved in a unique project developing alternative recreational and educational programs to address problems and issues facing at-risk youth. Dr. Allen, along with colleagues at Clemson University has authored several articles and manuals revolving around the development and implementation of an impact oriented model of youth program delivery that enhances the youth's ability to overcome and cope with the stress and pressures they face in today's social environment.
Dr. Allen has written extensively, authoring over 50 articles addressing such diverse areas as the relationship of personality needs and leisure interests; the stability of leisure and classification systems; and the impact of recreation and tourism services on one's quality of life. His primary research area, however, focuses on the impact of recreation and tourism services on individual and community well being. Dr. Allen has been engaged in a fifteen-year effort involving information regarding effective methods of leisure and tourism service delivery to practitioners, and he has increased academicians' understanding of the impact of recreation and tourism on the individual and one's sense of community well-being.