Wyoming Catholic College Annual Lecture Series - 2024-2025 Lecture 1: Dr. Catherine Ruth Pakaluk

Each year, Wyoming Catholic College invites members of the wider academic community to the town of Lander—distinguished men and women who contribute complementary perspectives across a wide range of disciplines. This series is considered an essential part of the College’s curriculum, and attendance is mandatory for the entire student body. But it is more than simply a required element of our students’ education; it is also an opportunity to welcome members of the local community into the academic life of the College.

Dr. Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Busch School at Catholic University of America

This year’s series will begin on September 27th, 2024 with a lecture by Dr. Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, a member of the faculty at the Busch School at Catholic University of America, and founder of the Social Research academic area there, where she is an Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought. Formerly Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University, her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy. Dr. 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.” A mother of eight, Dr. Pakaluk recently traveled across the United States and interviewed fifty-five college-educated women who were raising five or more children—an adventure that led to her most recent book, “Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth.” (Dr. Pakaluk’s lecture will be the concluding event in the two-day celebration of Professor Kyle Washut’s Inauguration.)



Dr. Catherine Ruth Pakaluk