Michael Allen
Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Michael W. Allen has been a pioneer in the e-learning industry since 1970, when he developed one of the first learning management systems for the NSF-funded Bio Learning Center and for introductory psychology at The Ohio State University. He was the innovative force behind one of the most successful authoring tools ever created, Authorware, and the new authoring and publishing system, ZebraZapps.

With over 45 years of professional, academic, and corporate experience in for teaching, developing, and marketing interactive learning and performance support systems, he has led teams of doctorate-level specialists in learning research, instructional design, computer-based training, and human engineering.

For decades, he has concentrated on defining unique methods of instructional design and development that provide meaningful and memorable learning experiences through stimulated cognitive interactivity. He developed the advanced design and development approaches now used widely, including context, challenge, activity, feedback (CCAF)-based design and the SAM process for iterative, collaborative development.

Michael is a prolific writer, sought-after conference speaker, and recognized industry leader. For his widely recognized leadership in learning technology and business, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO). He received ATD's Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award and also The eLearning Guild's Guild Masters Award, which recognizes an individual for consistently contributing to the e-learning community in terms of both quantity and quality of content, thus helping make the community a vibrant center for learning. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in educational psychology from The Ohio State University and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Michael Allen was the director of advanced educational systems research and development of Control Data Corporation's famous PLATO computer-based education system used around the world. He was the founder and former chairman of Authorware, Inc. and also the primary architect of Authorware Professional, which was based on Allen's extensive research on creativity and creative problem solving. It became a groundbreaking authoring tool combining power and ease of use, and ultimately the industry standard. Authorware, Inc. merged with Macromind/Paracomp to become Macromedia, which was later acquired by Adobe.