Clarence Roderic Allen is a geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

 who studies seismology

Seismology

Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. The field also includes studies of earthquake effects, such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, oceanic,...

. He is a graduate of Reed College (B.A., 1949) and the California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

 (M.S., 1951; Ph.D., 1954)

Allen has been President of the Seismological Society of America and the Geological Society of America

Geological Society of America

The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...

. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...

, the American Geophysical Union

American Geophysical Union

The American Geophysical Union is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting of over 50,000 members from over 135 countries. AGU's activities are focused on the organization and dissemination of scientific information in the interdisciplinary and international field of geophysics...

, and the Geological Society of America

Geological Society of America

The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...

. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 in 1974. Allen has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

 and the National Academy of Engineering since 1976.

Allen received the first G.K. Gilbert Award in Seismic Geology and in 1995 he received the Medal of the Seismological Society of America.

He has been a member of the faculty of the California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

 since 1955. He became a Professor Emeritus there in 1990.

In 1955, Allen appeared as a contestant on the American television quiz show You Bet Your Life

You Bet Your Life

You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...

 hosted by Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...

.

Publications

• "Geology of Earthquakes" with Robert S. Yeats and Kerry E. Sieh
  Kerry Sieh
  Kerry E. Sieh is an American geologist and seismologist.Sieh's principal research interest is earthquake geology, which uses geological layers and landforms to understand the geometries of active faults, the earthquakes they generate, and the crustal structure their movements produce...
  
  . Oxford University Press (1997) ISBN 0195078276
• "Comparative study of the neotectonics of the Xianshuihe fault, China" (1987)
• "Continuation of creep and strain studies in southern California" (1984)
• "Creep and strain studies in southern California: Final technical report" (1986)
• "Seismicity of the Southern California Region, 1 January 1932 to 31 December 1972" with John M. Nordquist and James A. Hileman (1973)
• "Active faulting in northern Turkey" (1969)
• "Agua Blanca fault: A major transverse structure of northern Baja California, Mexico" (1960)