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Ms. Spence served as Vice Chancellor of Academic Programs at the University of California-Irvine from 1992-94. She was the first to hold this position. According to the The Los Angeles Times, the position was created in 1992 to help shape student affairs during lean budget years. Ms. Spence has since resumed teaching and research in genetics in the pediatrics department at the UCI College of Medicine, her primary interest. She has studied the genetic origins of preadolescent schizophrenia and mental retardation, mathematical and computer models for family data analysis, and applications for genetic counseling.
Ms. Spence earned a bachelor of arts degree in biology from Grinnell in 1966. After earning her Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in 1969, she received the NIH fellowship in human genetics at the University of North Carolina. She has also served as Professor in Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine and Associate Dean of UCLA’s graduate division. In 1979, Ms. Spence received the Woman of Science Award. She is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, the Genetics Society of America, and the Behavioral Genetics Association. Grinnell College awarded her an honorary degree in 1999 and an alumni award in 1990.
Ms. Spence has participated in various organizations, such as the American Journal of Human Genetics editorial board, the Journal of Genetic Epidemiology editorial board, and the Alzheimer’s Disease and Associated Disorders editorial board. She has served on the board of directors for the American Board of Medical Genetics and has won numerous awards, including the National Standard Oil Foundation Merit Scholarship and the Guttmann Foundation Scholarship. She was named to the 1976 edition of American Men and Women of Science. In 2001, she was awarded the annual Leadership Award by The International Genetic Epidemiology Society.
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