Dr. Pence received a B.S. degree in Physics from the University of Virginia in 1984, and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in 1989.

In 1989, he joined the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he held various technology management positions, overseeing basic research and commercialization of technology with IBM product divisions. Major programs under his direction included networking and communications technology, analog integrated circuit design, and digital media solutions. He guided pioneering work in 802.11 wireless LANs and wide-area wireless data technologies in the mid-1990's, and managed technology commercialization efforts with IBM Microelectronics and the IBM PC Company for Fibre-Channel and infrared communication components. In the software area, he was responsible for research and development activities in the emerging digital media space, including work in content management, internet media (streaming audio/video), and pattern recognition. After moving to the IBM Software Group, he managed product initiatives in the areas of web content management and integration of rich media support across a number of IBM products, including Lotus Notes and Domino and WebSphere.

In 2000, Dr. Pence joined Universal Music Group as lead technologist for the online music initiative. In this role, he helped to form partnerships with technology providers, develop systems incorporating digital asset management, digital rights management, and reporting, and deploy early trials to test the systems and collect feedback. In 2001, he became Chief Technology Officer for pressplay, a joint venture between Sony and Vivendi Universal designed to offer an online music subscription service. In this capacity, he led the technical effort to bring the pressplay service to market, choose technology partners, and ensure the system was reliable and user friendly. In addition, he was responsible for charting the course of music download services to platforms beyond the PC, including wireless devices, set-tops, and game consoles.

In 2002, Roxio acquired pressplay and rebranded the service with the Napster name. Dr. Pence led the effort to build a legitimate service on the pressplay technology infrastructure, culminating in the relaunch of Napster in October, 2003. Most recently he led the effort which resulted in the world's first portable music subscription service - Napster to Go.

Throughout his career, Dr. Pence has been involved at senior levels in setting corporate strategy, assessing the impact of new technologies, and helping to develop new products and initiatives to respond to changing markets.

Dr. Pence holds several U.S. Patents and is a frequent speaker and participant in conferences focused on convergence and the opportunities for digital content in the internet age.