Deceased January 22, 2021
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In Memory
Terry Farina ’60 wrote, “Bob was a brilliant man and a regular guy. I was fortunate to call him friend for many decades—starting as pals in freshman year in the dorm, then AD fraternity brothers and finally roommates senior year.
Amherst required all of us to be serious students, and Bob was one (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), but not to the exclusion of having fun. Some of my favorite college memories involved Bob, myself and other classmates engaging in any number of non-academic misadventures, all seemingly ending with the obvious question: What were we thinking?
Following college graduation, a handful of us decided to pursue higher education in the Bay Area of California: Dave Bradford ’60 and Robert Vogel ’60 at Stanford University – School of Economics and Darold Greek ’60 and myself at Stanford Law School. Bob was within shouting distance at the University of California, Berkeley, where he took the prerequisite science courses to apply to med school. Thereafter, Bob returned to his hometown of St. Louis to attend the excellent medical school at Washington University—there, he met and married Nancy, his forever sweetheart (and a talented woman in her own right).
Bob’s brilliant medical and research career is well chronicled in his obituary, so, I will not repeat other than pointing out his relocation more than 40 years ago to the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
Bob and Nancy’s move to Colorado was a boon to my wife, Bev, and me as we had earlier settled in Grand Junction, Colo. Although Denver and Grand Junction are on separate sides of the state, about 200 miles apart, in the West, distances are not that much of an impediment. Consequently, over the years, we saw each other with some regularity and skied, attended Denver Broncos football games and otherwise did the fun things friends do when they get together.
Bob was a wonderful husband, father and grandpa. He led a full life and utilized his exceptional talents to the benefit of many. God bless him!”
Terry Farina ’60
John Deutch ’60 remembered that “Our junior year at Amherst, Bob Allen ’60, David Bradford ’60, Bob Johnson ’60 and I roomed together at AD, spent the summer as research assistants at Amherst’s Merrill Center for Economics, headed by Willard Thorp in Southampton, N.Y. The four of us took many classes together at Amherst, notably Arnold Collery’s “Money and Banking” and William Kennick’s “History of Philosophy” and “Metaphysics” courses. Bob Allen ’60 was surely the most pleasant person of this foursome. I never saw him without a smile on his face; his character and intellect were special. I loved him and will miss him sorely.
John Deutch ’60
In his 50th reunion memoir, Bob wrote that his Amherst liberal arts education in philosophy and economics made it possible to explore being a lawyer, CPA and psychiatrist before determining to be a “practicing physician, teacher and biochemist” only after graduation. His preparation set the stage for his groundbreaking 200 scientific research papers and 16 patents regarding diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies that are still the gold standard for their diagnosis and treatment.
Dick Weisfelder ’60