Chuck Zech is a professor of economics at Villanova University where he has taught since 1974. He also serves as the Director of The Center for the Study of Church Management at Villanova. He received his B.A. in Economics from St. Thomas University (MN) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Notre Dame University. He is the author or co-author of 10 books on the topic of church management, including Money Matters: Personal Giving in American Churches, Plain Talk About Churches and Money, Why Catholics Don’t Give…And What Can Be Done About It, The Parish Management Handbook, Lay Ministers and Their Spiritual Practices, Listening to the People of God: Closing, Rebuilding, and Revitalizing Parishes, Best Practices in Parish Stewardship, and most recently Best Practices of Catholic Pastoral and Finance Councils. He is a regular presenter at the Annual Conference of the International Catholic Stewardship Council (ICSC) and at diocesan and parish stewardship days around the country. In 2008 the ICSC awarded him “The Christian Stewardship Award”. He has served as a consultant to a number of U.S. Catholic parishes and dioceses. He is the father of four grown children and lives in a Philadelphia suburb with his wife Ann, an economics professor at St. Joseph's University.