N. Elizabeth Spence, Ph. D.
Dr. Spence is co-founder of i∙ki∙gai as well as creator and principal presenter of i∙ki∙gai workshops.

Over the past four decades, she has developed numerous programs and classes winning local and national recognitions, including a U.S. Presidential citation for “outstanding public service.”  

Her national-award-winning course on how to live a meaningful life (which she taught for seven years at the University of Cincinnati) was cited by a major online news source as “among the ten most worthwhile, interesting courses on college campuses.” 

Her book Life Medicine: Wisdom for Extraordinary Living, now in its 4th edition, has been used by faculty or staff in more than 60 colleges and universities. (The book is also available at Cincinnati's Joseph Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Commons. Click here for a brief description; click here to listen to radio interviews.)

A former student-affairs director at UC, Spence also has served as faculty for students earning advanced degrees in clinical psychology, education, organizational management, leadership studies and religion; has worked as a bibliographer and book editor; and, for seven years, taught college writing, American literature and drama, including four years at Xavier University where her department chair described her teaching as “provocative, challenging … inventive and engaged…with an unusual capacity to reach a wide variety of [people].” 

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Penn State, Spence earned two masters degrees from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. in East-West Psychology. Her doctoral dissertation on the psycho-spiritual journey has been described by a founder of human-potential psychology as “a very, very important study… rich, crucial and quite wonderful.”

Dr. Spence has served as a trainer for the Cincinnati Police Department, Cincinnati Women Helping Women, and the Cincinnati YWCA and has presented over 70 local, national and international radio, television, and conference programs.Her lifelong passion for world cultures has taken her to 26 countries so far. She has studied Asian psychotherapies in Japan; explored Chinese medicines in The Peoples' Republic of China; observed Hindu ritual along India's sacred Ganges; shared midnight stories with New Zealand's Maori; studied Celtic spirituality in Ireland and Iona, Scotland; and hiked East Africa's Serengeti with one of the world's last semi-nomadic tribes—all experiences she loves to share with workshop participants.

At the heart of it all is a deep enthusiasm for exploring how people live their best lives and then helping others discover and maximize their own unique excellence.

She is a member of the American Counseling Association, the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), and the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and has taken advanced training in the Enneagram Narrative Tradition.