Gregory E. Pence (born January 17, 1948) is an American philosopher.

Biography

Pence graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with a B.A. from

William and Mary William and Mary often refers to: * The joint reign of William III of England (II of Scotland) and Mary II of England (and Scotland) * William and Mary style, a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 named for the couple William and Mary may al ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, writing under visiting Australian bioethicist

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher who is Emeritus Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Singer's work specialises in applied ethics, approaching the subject from a secu ...

. Pence taught a required course in bioethics for 34 years to 165 medical students at the

University of Alabama School of Medicine The University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States with branch campuses in Huntsville, Montgomery, and ...

. In 2006,

Samford University Samford University is a Private university, private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded by Baptist Church, Baptists in 1841 as Howard College and located until 1887 in Marion, Alabama. It is governed by an in ...

awarded him a Pellegrino Medal for achievement in medical ethics. In 2012, he stopped teaching in medical school to chair the UAB Department of Philosophy, which he did until 2018. Since 1995, he has directed at UAB the EMSAP Program (Early Medical and Dental School Acceptance Program). His well-known work defending human cloning has labeled him a rebel in popular culture. Some critics, especially GreenPeace of Europe, consider him an apologist for the safety of GM foods. As displayed in his many books on human cloning (''Who's Afraid of Cloning'', etc.), he is one of the few bioethicists who believes that

human cloning Human cloning is the creation of a genetically Cloning, identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human Cell (biology), cells and Tissue (biology), tissue. It does ...

should not be banned but rather accepted in modern society as a future tool for creating wanted children. In 2001, Pence testified before the US Congress against a bill that would have criminalized all aspects of human cloning. His many books, and over 70 op-ed essays, explain his views about assisted reproduction, human cloning, and various topics in bioethics. In 2015, he was invited to write for "American National Biography" the official biography of agricultural pioneer

Norman Borlaug Norman Ernest Borlaug (; March 25, 1914September 12, 2009) was an American agronomist who led initiatives worldwide that contributed to the extensive increases in agricultural production termed the Green Revolution. Borlaug was awarded multiple ...

, a strong defender of

genetically modified food Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using various methods of genetic engineering. G ...

. His textbook, ''Medical Ethics'', one of the field's standards, was 34 years old in 2024, now in its 10th edition. At UAB, he won major teaching awards, including the Ingall's and President's. He coached the UAB team that in 2010 won the national championship of the Intercollegiate

Ethics Bowl The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl is an annual competitive intercollegiate ethics debate tournament for university students in the United States organized by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE). While the term bowl is a r ...

., and UAB teams that won the national championship of the

Bioethics Bowl The Bioethics Bowl is an intercollegiate, academic competition among undergraduate students at accredited four-year institutions of higher education. It takes place each April on a college campus. Unlike the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, which ...

in 2011 at Duke University, in 2015 at Florida State University. and in 2019 at the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May 1963 and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alaba ...

.In 2024, he became the first recipient of the Outstanding Service Award for the

. His 2002 and 2020 tradebooks ''Designer Food'' and ''Overcoming Addiction'' were named Outstanding Academic Books by

CHOICE magazine Choice involves deciding between multiple options. Choice(s) may also refer to: Film * ''Choices'' (1986 film), a television film directed by David Lowell Rich * ''Choices'' (2021 film), an OTT Indian film Music Performers * Choice (producer) ...

. In 2019, his university awarded him its Ireland Award for Scholarly Distinction. In 2024, its Alumni Society chose him for its Honorary Faculty Award.

Publications

Books

Pence has authored the following books: * ** 2nd ed. 1995
Internet Archive
** 3rd ed. 2000 ** 4th ed. 2004
Internet Archive
** 5th ed. 2008
Internet Archive
** 6th ed. 2011 ** 7th ed. 2015 ** 8th ed. 2017 **10th ed. 2024 * * * * * * * * * * * * He has co-authored one book with G. Lynn Stephens: * He has edited three books: * * *

Op-Ed Essays

A few of Pence's

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

essays: * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links