Sally Lyman Allen, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, died November 13, 2012 at age 86, after a brief illness. Sally was professor of biology at the University of Michigan for over 30 years and was a tireless and dedicated researcher and lecturer. Professor Allen's research at the U of M focused on the genetics and evolution of the ciliated protozoa and she was recognized as a national and international leader in this field, maintaining a lab in Nat Sci in which many Ph.D. candidates were nurtured.

As a devoted teacher, Professor Allen's classroom activities focused on the large junior­-senior course for majors in genetics. Through her efforts this important course remained relevant and embraced the revolutionary advances in the genetics field. No less was her devotion to the honors course in genetics as she was a lecturer for whom the students truly mattered most.

Sally received her A.B. degree from Vassar College in 1946 and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1953. At Chicago she investigated mouse genetics with two of the most famous geneticists of the twentieth century, Sewall Wright and George Snell, who later received a Nobel Prize for the work in which she participated. Sally was a very fun loving and creative individual.