Dr. Nancy J. Allen is an organizational sociologist, currently supporting the Global Engagement Office in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences at UC Davis as Associate Director for International Programs, Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor, and Executive Director of the Global Fellowships in Agricultural Development (GFAD) program.  She joined UC Davis in 2015, working first as UC Davis’ Chief of Party for the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Agriculture & Food Security at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, where she spent two years in residence on the UAF campus. She has represented UC Davis on projects in Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Bangladesh, Nepal and Kenya. She was the 2022 recipient of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Award for International Engagement (https://globalaffairs.ucdavis.edu/chancellor-awards/2021-22-honorees).

From 2000 to 2015, she consulted on behalf of philanthropic foundations and international development agencies, specializing in strategic program evaluation primarily in the agriculture and health sectors in Africa. Previously, she worked for six years at the Harvard Institute for International Development as an economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia, specializing in foreign direct investment and export manufacturing. She began her career in the private sector.

Dr. Allen received her Ph.D. from Harvard University, in a joint degree of the Harvard Business School and the Department of Sociology. She also holds an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University and a B.S. in Arabic and Middle East Studies from Georgetown University.