ADVISORY BOARD

Patricia Smith Churchland

Patricia Smith Churchland is currently chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of California, San Diego, where she is a researcher in neurophilosophy - the interface between traditional philosophy questions concerning consciousness, knowledge, meaning, and free will, and developments in neuroscience. She is also an adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute.

Her best known book is Neurophilosophy (MIT Press, 1986). A more recent treatment of neurophilosophical issues is found in her book, Brain-Wise: Studies in Neurophilosophy (MIT Press, 2002). She is also co-author with T. J. Sejnowski of The Computational Brain (MIT Press 1992), co-author with Paul Churchland of On The Contrary (MIT Press 1998), and co-editor with Rodolfo Llinas of The Mind-Brain Continuum (MIT Press 1996).

She has been president of the American Philosophical Association (Pacific Division) and the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and won a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991. Additionally, Churchland has done television work, including an interview with Bill Moyers for The World of Ideas, Charlie Rose on NightLine, a debate with John Searle on Britain's Channel 4, and appearances on The Human Quest (PBS), The Universe Within (Discovery Channel), Changing the Mind (TBS/CNN), and a number of interviews for European television.

Churchland has a B. A. from the University of British Columbia, an M. A. from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B. Phil. from the University of Oxford. Aided by a Woodrow Wilson Faculty Development Grant (1975-76), she studied neurology at the University of Manitoba Medical School, and learned basic neuroscience at the Jordan spinal cord lab.