Roger H. Allen ’58

Retired tenured professor emeritus, founder and president of Allen Investment Corporation, investment/commercial real estate developer, and author of “Real Estate Investment and Taxation.”

College of Business and Economics

Roger Allen received his associate’s degree from then-Boise Junior College in 1958 before earning his bachelor’s in Accounting from the University of Nevada and his master’s in Finance from Northwestern University. He soon returned to Boise, where he began his career as an appraiser, mortgage loan originator and loan marketing vice president for the Mortgage-Insurance Corporation, and Boise State recruited him to develop and teach new courses for the then-School of Business.

Allen stayed with the university for 16 years, overseeing 12 courses in investments, finance, real estate finance, corporate finance, real estate development, and statistics. During that time he also served on the Faculty Curriculum Committee and the Faculty Senate, and published several books on real estate, including “Real Estate Investment and Taxation,” which has international sales and is used by American universities, Harvard University. A tenured professor, he resigned in 1983 to pursue his own business ventures, but in 2018, Boise State awarded him the title of Professor Emeritus in Finance and dedicated the Skaggs Hall of Learning in the new College of Business and Economics building to him.

Allen uses his knowledge and experience to promote the operations of AIC/Avest LP; and as a private businessman, he has developed two major shopping centers, numerous storage sites, industrial buildings, and multi-family residential subdivisions.

Throughout his career, Allen has had a strong relationship with all things numerical and financial, especially when combined with computer analysis and land. The rewards can be seen in his solid real estate holdings in the Boise Valley. The overriding focus of Roger’s career has been his desire and ability to treat all people with respect and honesty. “Sharing” is a passion reflected in his professional and personal life.