Lynn Allen became the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Acting Chief Information Officer (CIO) on December 18, 2008. Prior to this, Mr. Allen served as the Deputy CIO for Business and IT Modernization. In this capacity, he works very closely with HUD's leadership to ensure that the information technology systems continually meet mission requirements. His prior assignment was at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the Associate Chief Information Officer for Cyber Security. He was also at the U.S. Department of State as the Assistant Inspector General for Information Technology (IT) (2003 - 2005). From 2002 to 2003 he was the Director of the Network Lifecycle Management Division covering configuration management and many full lifecycle issues. From 2000 to 2002 he was the Branch Chief for the centralized IT help desk (InfoCenter) providing Tier 1/II support to all of the department's global activities.

Mr. Allen also spent a full military career with the US Air Force where he worked as an Information Manager and as an Electronics Countermeasures specialist. During his career he experienced overseas tours in Japan, Italy, and Germany. Mr. Allen holds a Master of Science Administration (Information Resource Management) degree from Central Michigan University, Bachelor of Science degree in Management Studies from University of Maryland University College, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems (magna cum laude) from Strayer University.