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A professor of theology at The Catholic University of America was announced as the new head of cultural outreach at the Department for Homeland Security’s Office for Partnership and Engagement.
The D.C.-based university announced Chad Pecknold would be on a leave of absence from his position at Catholic’s School of Theology and Religious Studies, where he is a tenured professor, with the school’s website listing him as on leave from 2026-2028.
The move is, in many ways, not unusual. Tenured professors at many academic institutions, including CUA, take leaves of absence either to work on special projects or to serve in some external role for a period of time.
In the case of The Catholic University of America, faculty stints in government service are not uncommon — in 2019 Prof. Robert Destro went on leave from the university’s Columbus School of Law after being appointed to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
Indeed, the university, which was founded by papal charter under Pope Leo XIII and incorporates the episcopate of the United States into its governing structures, often cites its founding mission to
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