Allen Levine is past Vice President of Research at the University of Minnesota and Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Nutrition. Prior to this he served as Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs, inaugural Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and Head of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition. He was the Associate Director of Research and a Senior Career Scientist at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center for 26 years. He also founded the NIDDK-funded Minnesota Obesity Center and was its director for 20 years (1995-2015).

Dr. Levine’s research focus for over 40 years has been on the neural regulation of food intake, particularly related to the opioid peptides, oxytocin and Neuropeptide Y. He and his colleagues have published extensively on the brain circuitry involved in the rewarding properties of foods. He has published 315 scientific papers and 100 review articles, editorials and book reviews. His current career H index is 99 (google scholar). He has received major awards for his research efforts: one from the then American Institute of Nutrition (Mead Johnson Award), one from the American College of Nutrition (Grace A. Goldsmith Award) and one from American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow). He is also a fellow in the Obesity Society, the American Psychological Association and the American Society for Nutrition.  This year (2021) he will receive the Career Award from the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior.   

Dr. Levine has also been president or executive director of six non-profit organizations. Most recently he was president of the Obesity Society and served on its executive committee for four years. He was  president of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior and also served as its treasurer. While at the VA Medical Center he was involved in the establishment of the Minneapolis non-profit VA Research Association and served as its executive director. In his private life he served as executive director of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota, the president of the Jewish Community Center of Greater St. Paul and the president of the St. Paul Jewish Federation. He is currently in his 6th year on the board of the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.