He graduated cum laude with a B.S. from William and Mary and a Ph.D. from New York University, writing under visiting Australian bioethicist Peter Singer. Professor Pence also directs UAB's competitive Early Medical School Acceptance Program and has taught ethics for thirty-four years at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. In 2006, Samford University awarded him a Pellegrino Medal for achievement in medical ethics.

His most-known work is that which has labeled him as a sort of rebel in the scientific community. As displayed in his many books on the subject of cloning (Who's Afraid of Cloning, etc.), he is one of the few bioethicists who believe in human cloning. He believes that human cloning should not be banned but accepted in modern society as a medical marvel. His opinion can be viewed in his many papers and books about the theory and future of human cloning.

His textbook, "Medical Ethics", is one of the field's standard texts. At UAB, Pence has won several teaching awards and in 2010, he coached the team that won the national Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl.

Pence has authored the following books:

• Pence, G. Medical Ethics: Accounts of Ground-Breaking Cases in Medical Ethics, 6/ed., McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2010.
• Pence, G. Who's Afraid of Human Cloning?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1998.
• Pence, G. Re-Creating Medicine: Ethical Issues at the Frontiers of Medicine, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000.
• Pence, G. Designer Food: Mutant Harvest or Breadbasket of the World?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001.
• Pence, G. Cloning After Dolly: Who's Still Afraid?, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2004.
• Pence, G. The Elements of Bioethics, McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2007.

He has edited four books, the last one below being a collection of his op-eds in newspapers and magazines:

• Pence, G. Classic Works in Medical Ethics, McGraw-Hill Publishers, 1995.
• Pence, G. The Ethics of Food: A Reader for the Twenty-First Century, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002.
• Pence, G. Flesh of My Flesh: The Ethics of Cloning Humans, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1998.
• Pence, G., Brave New Bioethics, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2003.