Mendota Heights Man Awarded Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Dr. Michael W. Allen, chairman and CEO, Allen Interactions, Mendota Heights, Minnesota, was awarded the 2012 Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 12, 2012, for outstanding citizenship, individual achievement, and encouragement of cultural unity.

Honorees are Americans who exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the distinct values and rich heritage of their ancestors. They are recognized for their years of professional and business leadership and their contributions to America. They are honored among many other extraordinary individuals who have done so much good for America. This award signifies encouragement to Americans, that with hard work and perseverance they can also achieve the American dream.

The awards will be presented by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), the largest organization of its kind in the U.S. The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is sanctioned by the United States Congress and entered into the Congressional record. The medals were conceived to pay tribute to the immigrant experience, remarkable individual achievements, and above all, the spirit that makes America unique among nations. NECO’s mandate is to preserve ethnic diversity, promote ethnic and religious equality, tolerance and harmony, and combat injustice, 
hatred, and bigotry.

Previous recipients of the Medal of Honor include senators, statesmen, athletes, major entertainment personalities, Nobel laureates, educators, business and religious leaders.

The Ellis Island Medal of Honor will be presented at a ceremony and gala black-tie reception in the historic Great Hall on Ellis Island. All branches of The United States Armed Forces traditionally participate in this spectacular event, as they herald the arrival of the honorees onto Ellis Island.

About Michael W. Allen, PhD 
In his work ranging from projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Control Data Corporation, and his own companies, Allen’s work has contributed to the first Internet-based solution demonstrated to reduce the spread of HIV, reduction in school gang violence, and academic success by those failing in traditional education.

Born in a rural Iowa town in 1946 to a one-room schoolhouse teacher and a farmer's son whose father lost nearly all his land in the depression, Allen found himself with the spirit of his dad's entrepreneurship and his mother's love of learning. It is this entrepreneurial spirit and love of learning which has fueled Allen’s more than 40 years of research efforts to understand, invent and implement means of helping individuals achieve their full potential. His inspired mission has always been to help every person achieve his or her full potential through the creative use of multimedia technologies.

Michael Allen’s custom e-learning studios at Allen Interactions have produced award-winning work for nearly 20 years and help employees of the most prestigious organizations achieve greater career success and mobility. 

Allen Interactions has developed, without charge, courseware for the “e-Learning for Kids” foundation – a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to “Opening Doors to Education Worldwide, through fun and free learning on the Internet for children ages 5-12. And seeing social needs also as business opportunities, Allen has used the proceeds from training work to advance technology-based learning systems for the benefit of all. In recent years, he has concentrated on defining unique methods of instructional application design and development that provide meaningful and memorable learning experiences through "true" cognitive interactivity.

Source: PRWeb