Catherine Ruth Pakaluk is an associate professor and founder of political economy academic area for the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. Previously she held the position of assistant professor and chair of the economics department at Ave Maria University. She works in various socioeconomic areas, specializing in applied microeconomics, economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, catholic social thought, and political economy. Pakaluk is passionate about the importance of family growth and its role in societies all over the world.
She received her bachelor’s in mathematics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania and continued her education at Harvard University, receiving both an AM and PhD in economics. Pakaluk is a gifted writer and speaker on topics of gender, culture, social science, and the vocation of women.
As a recipient of both the Acton Institute’s Novak Award (2015) and the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom and Opportunity Prize (2023), Pakaluk has greatly contributed to the study of religion and its place within economic liberty. She has researched both economic and social consequences to collapsing fertility and birth rates around the world.
A mother of eight children herself, Pakaluk embodies the role of nurturer and provides an example of familial strength in contributing to economic progression and liberty. She and her husband, together, have 14 children and 29 grandchildren. Her focus on the family and loved ones extends to her other passions like sourdough baking and hiking with her family.
