Alleen Pace Nilsen was originally trained as an English teacher, receiving a degree from Brigham Young University,[2] and worked as a First Class teacher at Malcolm Price Laboratory School, University of Northern Iowa.

[5] In 1980, Nilsen and Kenneth L. Donelson co-authored Literature for Today's Young Adults, which became a seminal textbook for teachers and librarians and has seen nine editions so far.

[9] Between 1967 and 1969, Alleen lived in Afghanistan, where she accompanied her husband Don on an international development mission.

[10] Based on these experiences, the couple created a website called "Afghanistan for Kids", which aims to educate American children and their parents about the country.

Don and Alleen Nilsen have also created several dozens of introductory PowerPoint presentations with the aim of educating the general public about humor research, gender, and other topics their academic work has touched upon.