William Cavanaugh is Professor, Catholic Studies at DePaul University in Chicago. Cavanaugh specializes in political theology, economic ethics, and ecclesiology.
He received a BA in theology from Notre Dame in 1984 and an MA from Cambridge University in 1987. After working as a lay associate with the Holy Cross order in a poor area of Santiago, Chile, Cavanaugh worked at the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the Notre Dame Law School. He then studied at Duke University, where he received a PhD in religion in 1996. He taught at the University of St. Thomas from 1995-2010.
In addition to many journal articles, he has published numerous books, including the recent Migrations of the Holy: God, State, and the Political Meaning of the Church (Eerdmans, 2011). His books have been translated into French, Spanish, and Polish. Cavanaugh is coeditor of the journal Modern Theology.