ˈæftɚɹ ˈɜːnɪŋ ɐ pˌiːˈeɪtʃ.dˈiː. fɹʌmðə jˌuːnɪvˈɜːsᵻɾi ʌv pˈɪtsbɜːɡ ˌʌndɚ wˈɪlfɹɪd sˈɛlɚz nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd sˈɪksti nˈaɪn, tʃˈɜːtʃlənd ɹˈoʊz tə ðə ɹˈæŋk ʌv fˈʊl pɹəfˈɛsɚɹ æt ðə jˌuːnɪvˈɜːsᵻɾi ʌv mˌænɪtˈoʊbə bᵻfˌoːɹ ɐksˈɛptɪŋ ðə vˈælts fˈæmɪli ɛndˈaʊd tʃˈɛɹ ɪn fɪlˈɑːsəfi æt ðə jˌuːnɪvˈɜːsᵻɾi ʌv kˌælɪfˈoːɹniə, sˌæn dɪˈeɪɡoʊ ˈʌksd ænd dʒˈɔɪnt ɐpˈɔɪntmənts ɪn ðæt ˌɪnstɪtˈuːʃənz ˈɪnstɪtˌuːt fɔːɹ nˈʊɹɹəl kˌɑːmpjuːtˈeɪʃən ænd ˌɔn ɪts kˈɑːɡnᵻtˌɪv sˈaɪəns fˈækəlti.
After earning a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh under Wilfrid Sellars (1969), Churchland rose to the rank of full professor at the University of Manitoba before accepting the Valtz Family Endowed Chair in Philosophy at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and joint appointments in that institution's Institute for Neural Computation and on its Cognitive Science Faculty.