Allendorf is a national expert in student business incubation, having developed and ran the university’s Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory, one of the first of its kind when it opened in 2004. She teaches in the undergraduate and MBA programs in the Tippie College of Business. Before joining the University of Iowa, Allendorf served as vice-president of product development for The Learning Company's Parsons Technology Division. Her extensive experience in software development management also includes Intuit and Broderbund as well as Rockwell Collins. Allendorf's expertise is in consumer product marketing, both direct and retail, software development, team building and entrepreneurship. She has a BS in mathematics, computer science, and economics and a MBA from the University of Iowa.