Allen, John Eliot, 1908-1996

Geologist, educator, author, newspaper columnist, expert on Columbia River Gorge, professor of geology at Portland State University; born in Seattle; active in Boy Scouts; M.A., Univ. of Oregon, 1932; Ph. D., Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1944; worked for private industry and Oregon Dept. of Geology and Mineral Industries; taught in Pennsylvania and New Mexico; founded Dept. of Earth Sciences, Portland State College, 1956 (later called: Dept. of Geology, Portland State University); emeritus, 1974; wrote "Time Travel" weekly column in The Oregonian newspaper, 1983-1987; passed away, Dec. 17, 1996.

From the description of Papers, 1926-1994. (Portland State University). WorldCat record id: 45840655

John Eliot Allen was born in Seattle, Washington on August 12, 1908. From an early age he was heavily involved with the Boy Scouts – he reached the rank of Eagle Scout in 1924. He earned his Master’s from the University of Oregon in 1932 and a doctorate in geology from University of California at Berkeley in 1944.

In 1937 Allen joined the state of Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mineral Industries before moving on to teach in Pennsylvania and New Mexico. In 1956 he returned to found the Department of Earth Science (later the Geology Department) at Portland State College. He retired from PSU in 1974, but as professor emeritus continued to maintain an office in the Geology Department.

After retiring from PSU he began to write a weekly column for The Oregonian newspaper titled “Time Traveler” from 1983 to 1987. Always a prolific writer, he continued to write and publish until his death on December 19, 1996. 1996 saw the publication of his book with co-author Ellen Morris Bishop, Hiking Oregon’s Geology, and in 1997 his autobiography, Bin Rock and Dump Rock: Recollections of a Geologist, was posthumously published.

From the guide to the John Eliot Allen Papers, 1923-1994, (Portland State University Library)