Rate My Professor Gary Comstock

Gary L. Comstock serves as the Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. He joined NC State as Professor of Philosophy in 2002, following a twenty-year tenure at Iowa State University where he progressed from Assistant to Professor of Religious Studies. Comstock holds a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature (1983) and an A.M. in Religious Studies (1977) from the University of Chicago, as well as a B.A. with High Honors in Religious Studies and English Literature from Wheaton College (1976). Throughout his career, he has directed the NC State Research and Professional Ethics program, served as an ASC Fellow at the National Humanities Center (2007-2009), acted as Editor-in-chief of "On the Human" (2009-2012), and presided over the Agriculture, Food & Human Values Society (1993-1994). His accolades include the NC State Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award (2015), induction into the NC State Academy of Outstanding Teachers (2015), the Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor title (2020), and Best Paper awards for “The Prawn Hypothesis” (2022) and “Imagining Other Species’ Pains” (2025).

Comstock's research centers on ethics, particularly animal ethics, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and critical thinking. He explores ethical issues related to animal minds, agricultural biotechnology, and the impacts of climate change on human and animal welfare. Notable publications include Research Ethics: A Philosophical Guide to the Responsible Conduct of Research (Cambridge University Press, 2013), Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case Against Agricultural Biotechnology (Kluwer, 2000), Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers' Brief (Routledge, 2019), and Life Science Ethics (editor, 2nd ed., 2010). He has coauthored legal briefs with Peter Singer, including support for chimpanzee rights cases, and his work has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, and Bulgarian. An active speaker, Comstock has lectured across Europe, North America, and in Russia, Israel, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, and Belize. He teaches PHI 816: Introduction to Research Ethics and develops online courses in critical thinking, such as "How We Evaluate."