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Michael Spezio Receives Distinguished Alum Award for Work in Academia

During the Seminary's 2021 Alumnae/i Days, the Rev. Dr. Michael L. Spezio ’96 was recognized as the Distinguished Alumnus in Academia. 

After obtaining his MDiv from Pittsburgh Seminary with a concentration in Christian ethics, Michael completed his Ph.D. in cognitive/systems neuroscience at the University of Oregon’s Institute of Neuroscience. He then served as a postdoctoral fellow, first at The M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California at Davis, then at the Brain Imaging Center at the California Institute of Technology.

Since 2007, he has been a faculty member of Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., where he currently serves as associate professor of psychology and neuroscience. He is also in his tenth year as a visiting researcher in neuroscience at the Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Hamburg, Germany.

Michael’s research focuses on how the brain makes complex decisions about other people, providing new understanding about virtue and moral decision making. Some of his studies look specifically at the brain activity of people with disorders of social cognition and emotion. His teaching spans many aspects of neuroscience and psychology, including research methods, EEG and MRI/fMRI analysis, data science ethics, depression, and the autism spectrum.

This work has garnered Michael multiple awards and grants, and he currently serves as editor of the journal Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences. An ordained PC(USA) pastor, he also volunteers as a chaplain at Pasadena’s Huntington Hospital and serves on its bioethics committee.

 

Michael Spezio Receives Distinguished Alum Award for Work in Academia

During the Seminary's 2021 Alumnae/i Days, the Rev. Dr. Michael L. Spezio ’96 was recognized as the Distinguished Alumnus in Academia. 

After obtaining his MDiv from Pittsburgh Seminary with a concentration in Christian ethics, Michael completed his Ph.D. in cognitive/systems neuroscience at the University of Oregon’s Institute of Neuroscience. He then served as a postdoctoral fellow, first at The M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California at Davis, then at the Brain Imaging Center at the California Institute of Technology.

Since 2007, he has been a faculty member of Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., where he currently serves as associate professor of psychology and neuroscience. He is also in his tenth year as a visiting researcher in neuroscience at the Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Hamburg, Germany.

Michael’s research focuses on how the brain makes complex decisions about other people, providing new understanding about virtue and moral decision making. Some of his studies look specifically at the brain activity of people with disorders of social cognition and emotion. His teaching spans many aspects of neuroscience and psychology, including research methods, EEG and MRI/fMRI analysis, data science ethics, depression, and the autism spectrum.

This work has garnered Michael multiple awards and grants, and he currently serves as editor of the journal Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences. An ordained PC(USA) pastor, he also volunteers as a chaplain at Pasadena’s Huntington Hospital and serves on its bioethics committee.

 

MDiv academics distinguished alum Michael Spezio