Michael L Spezio

Michael L. Spezio teaches psychology and neuroscience at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. He holds visiting appointments at the California Institute of Technology and at the Institute for Systems Neuroscience at the UKE in Hamburg, Germany. He is an affective and social neuroscientist specializing in the cognitive science of emotion, moral action, and mindfulness practice. In addition to his scientific research and peer-reviewed publications in science, his work presents novel ways to engage science, theology, and spiritual perspectives. Through an invitation to be a year-long resident fellow at the interdisciplinary Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, NJ, he is finishing work on a project entitled Mindful-Emotional Persons: From Cognitive Science and Virtue Theory to Character in Loving Encounter. Together with colleagues at Caltech and at Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA, he is working on a project investigating the cognitive science of stable character in love, compassion, and care for others. His work is funded by generous support from the National Science Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, and the John Templeton Foundation. Michael has two doctoral degrees, one in systems and cognitive neuroscience from the University of Oregon, and one in biochemistry from Cornell University. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and is ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).