GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 16, 2015 – Esteemed educator and zealous researcher of multiple disciplines in the area of advanced social studies and social thought, Catherine Pakaluk has been selected as the recipient of the 2015 Novak Award by the Acton Institute in recognition of her early promise as a scholar.
Catherine Ruth Pakaluk is Assistant Professor of Economics at Ave Maria University and Founder-Director of the Stein Center for Social Research at Ave Maria University. This center is an interdisciplinary institute for advanced studies in social science and social thought. She currently works in the areas of demography, family studies, the economics of education and religion, and the interpretation of Catholic social thought.
Pakaluk earned her doctorate in economics at Harvard University (2010), where her dissertation under Caroline Hoxby examined the relationship between religion and educational outcomes. Her mentors have included F. Russell Hittinger, Michael Novak, and Steven A. Long.
Pakaluk is also a widely-admired writer and sought-after speaker on matters of culture, religion, gender, the social science of the family, the vocation of women, Catholic social thought, and the work of Edith Stein. She lives in Ave Maria, Florida with her husband Michael and seven children.
Named after distinguished American theologian and social philosopher Michael Novak, the Novak Award recognizes new outstanding research by scholars early in their academic careers who demonstrate outstanding intellectual merit in advancing the understanding of theology's connection to human dignity, the importance of limited government, religious liberty, and economic freedom. Recipients of the Novak Award make a formal presentation on such questions at an annual public forum known as the Calihan Lecture. The Novak Award comes with a $10,000 prize.
The Novak Award forms part of a range of scholarships, travel grants, and awards available from the Acton Institute that support future religious and intellectual leaders who wish to study the essential relationship between theology, the free market, economic liberty, and the importance of the rule of law. Details of these scholarships may be found at www.acton.org/scholarships.