Catherine R. Pakaluk, Ph.D, is an assistant professor of Social Research and Economic Thought at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought, and political economy. Pakaluk is the 2015 recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award, a prize given for “significant contributions to the study of the relationship between religion and economic liberty.”
Beyond her formal training in economics, Pakaluk studied Catholic social thought under the mentorship of Fr. Russell Hittinger, and various aspects of Thomistic thought with Steven A. Long. She is a widely-admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, gender, social science, the vocation of women, and the work of Edith Stein. She lives in Maryland with her husband Michael Pakaluk and eight children.