Biography
Derry Allen's very first Yale role was as part of the campus community, growing up as a Yale faculty grandchild. (He still has family in the area.) Then, as a Yale undergrad, he pursued an intensive major in American Studies, rowed on the varsity heavyweight crew team, and edited the Silliman College newspaper. After earning an MBA at Harvard he moved to Washington, DC, where he served at the Environmental Protection Agency, working on an array of national and international issues. While there, he had many professional interactions with Yale professors, especially in the areas of sustainability and industrial ecology.
When Allen retired in 2015, he broadened his volunteer focus from local organizations in Washington to include Yale. He began to participate in various Yale environmental dialogues. In 2019, he joined the Class of 1969’s Class Council and helped organize his 50th reunion. He next became a class agent for the Yale Alumni Fund, and was a YAA Delegate from 2021 to 2024, serving as a member of the nominating committee for the YAA Board. In 2024, he co-chaired his 55th reunion and was himself elected to the YAA Board.
Allen and his wife live in Washington, DC, where he is also a member of the local Yale Club.
