Paula Allen-Meares

Academic administrator Paula Allen-Meares was born on February 29, 1948, in Buffalo, New York to Mary and Joseph Allen. She graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1969 with her B.S. degree. Allen-Meares then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receiving her M.S.W. degree in 1971 and her Ph.D. degree in social work and educational administration in 1975.

Allen-Meares began working at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1977 as a visiting lecturer in the School of Social Work, becoming an assistant professor in 1978. She was promoted to associate professor in 1983; and, in 1989, she was promoted to full professor and acting dean of the School of Social Work. In 1990, she was promoted to dean and held this position until 1993, when she was hired as dean of the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Under her leadership, she also oversaw the fundraising for and construction of a new facility for the school and the school’s endowment increased by over forty million dollars, which significantly enhanced the financial stability of the school. In 2009, Allen-Meares returned to the University of Illinois as Chancellor and had faculty appointments in the schools of education and social work, as well as in the school of public health beginning with a dual appointment at University of Illinois Chicago campus and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. She was also appointed the John Corbally Presidential Professor and the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), a role she held until 2015. As Chancellor, she was instrumental in raising almost $676 million for the school, which is the most money ever raised by UIC.

Allen-Meares served on the visiting committees of the schools of social work at the University of Pittsburgh, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Southern California. She also became a member of the National Association of Social Workers in 1982 and chaired its communications committee from 1993 to 1997. Allen-Meares served on the board of trustees of the W.T. Grant Foundation from 1999 to 2008 and was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2004 and as a trustee of the New York Academy of Medicine in 2007.

Allen-Meares authored numerous academic articles and books including Social Work Practice: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data Collection Techniques, Is Social Work Racist? A Content Analysis of Recent Literature, and Neglected Victims of Murder: Children's Witness to Parental Homicide and the seventh edition of Social Work Services in Schools, which was published by multiple presses, in 2015. She coauthored the book The School Services Sourcebook: A Guide for School-Based Professionals.

Allen-Meares is married to Henry Meares. The couple have three daughters, Tracey, Nicki, and Shannon.

Paula Allen-Meares was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 12, 2024.