George Sperling earned his B.S. from the University of Michigan in 1955, his M.A. from Columbia University in 1956, and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1959. Upon completion of his Ph.D., Sperling joined Bell Labs as a member of technical research staff. He worked there full-time from 1959 to 1970, serving as part-time faculty at many universities over those years. From 1970 until 1986, he stayed at Bell Labs, but made teaching his full-time focus, becoming Professor of Psychology and Neural Sciences at New York University. He remained there until 1992, when he came to the University of California Irvine as Distinguished Professor.

He has received many awards and recognitions for his work, including election to Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and OSA; election to the National Academy of Sciences; and the Edgar D. Tillyer Award from OSA, the Howard Crosby Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and the United States Air Force Award and Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service.