In Memoriam
Ethan R. Allen, DO
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Ethan R. Allen, DO, an osteopathic medicine pioneer and one of Western University of Health Sciences’ founders, passed away March 21, 2022 at the age of 98.
“Dr. Allen was a tremendous gift to the world and to WesternU. His loss leaves a void in our communities, in our profession, and in our hearts," said WesternU President Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA. "However, his legacy as a leader in osteopathic medicine and in the health sciences will live on forever. His leadership helped to shape and grow WesternU from a start-up medical school into the esteemed health sciences University it is today. My heartfelt condolences go to his family and to all of us in the WesternU community.”
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The history of osteopathic medicine would be vastly different without Dr. Allen. He was a pivotal advocate for DOs maintaining their degrees in California when some chose to convert to MDs in the 1960s. He also was a major force in the creation of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) in 1977, which helped re-establish osteopathic medical education in California. COMP is the founding college of what has grown into Western University of Health Sciences, which includes campuses in Pomona, California and Lebanon, Oregon. |
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The first COMP Board of Trustees
meeting in 1977.
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Dr. Allen served on COMP’s (now WesternU’s) Board of Trustees from its inception in 1977 until his retirement in February 2020. He served as Board Chairman in 1977-78 and as Treasurer from 1982-2020. He was accorded the distinct honor of being named Founding Trustee Emeritus. |
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Dr. Allen maintained a medical practice for 65 years, starting with a group practice in 1952 and then a solo practice from 1985 until his retirement in 2017. One reason he practiced for so long was his commitment to providing Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) to his patients. |
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His commitment to osteopathic medicine was also evident in his years of service at WesternU. Even in retirement, he continued to teach COMP students Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) techniques during volunteer Saturday sessions. He provided four workshops per semester, eight per year for more than 30 years, instructing and influencing generations of osteopathic physicians. |
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“Dr. Allen’s accomplishments in life were so many and the legacy he leaves behind is no less than our very profession and all of thousands of us that have truly stood on his shoulders and followed in his footsteps. His impact as a physician, leader, teacher, mentor, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend will never be forgotten,” said COMP and COMP-Northwest Dean Paula Crone, DO ’92. “He will be greatly missed. But the many lessons in life he taught us, his leadership and service to the osteopathic profession and his steadfast dedication to our school which he helped to shape, guide and preserve will carry on. We will continue to do our best to make him proud.” |
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Dr. Allen is survived by his daughters, Marjorie Miller and Cynthia Allen-Lapp, his son, Sam, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Nancy Corbett, his son, Greg, and his wife, Alice, who passed away on May 7, 2019 at the age of 96. |
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Among many other accomplishments, Ethan and Alice Allen in 1971 founded the Rio Hondo Area Drug Abuse Coalition, which evolved into what is now the Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse (L.A. CADA). L.A. CADA provides residential treatment mental health services, addiction treatment, family therapy, HIV/AIDS education, re-entry services for incarcerated women, and other services to those in need. The Allens originally launched the organization to assist Vietnam War veterans who were returning home suffering from trauma and addicted to drugs. The L.A. CADA residential treatment program is named in the Allens’ honor -- “Allen House” provides men and women 18 and older with a comprehensive and integrated treatment model that addresses complex substance use and/or co-occurring disorders. |
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Dr. Allen graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1943 with an electrical engineering degree and made electric motors for the B-29 airplane for General Electric. He was recruited, along with 30 other young engineers, for the Manhattan Project. He was drafted into the military in 1944 and trained in the Navy in San Diego and Corpus Christi, Texas. He served in the Navy Air Corps as a radio and radar technician. He was discharged in 1946 and obtained his DO degree in 1951 from the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons in Los Angeles. |
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Alice and Ethan Allen at WesternU's "A Tribute to Caring" gala in 2016. |
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Dr. Ethan Allen's Saturday OMM workshops |
For more than 30 years, Dr. Allen provided volunteer Saturday sessions to students who wanted to improve their skills in high velocity-low amplitude technique (HVLA). |
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The history of osteopathic medicine |
Dr. Allen presented "A Brief History of Osteopathic Medicine in California, Oregon and Western University of Health Sciences" on Jan. 27, 2016. |
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Ethan Allen, DO, Park dedication |
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Ethan Allen, DO, Park was dedicated on Dec. 9, 2006 on WesternU's Pomona campus. Ethan and Alice Allen supported WesternU in numerous ways, including the establishment of the Greg Allen Memorial Scholarship. The park serves as a "perpetual reminder of a distinguished career for all who find respite and inspiration here." |
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