Harold Pollack

Harold Pollack teaches at the University of Chicago, where he is the Helen Ross Professor at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and practice, co-director of the University of Chicago Urban Health Lab, and holds other affiliate appointments in biological sciences and public health.

Past president of the Health Politics and Policy section of the American Political Science Association, he received his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University. He holds a doctorate degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.

His writings regularly appear in Washington Post, the Nation, the New York Times, New Republic, Atlantic, and other popular publications. His American Prospect essay, “Lessons from an Emergency Room, Nightmare” was selected for the collection Best American Medical Writing, 2009.

Professor Pollack is best-known to the general public as the originator of the index card guide to personal finance. This is now a book, co-authored with Helaine Olen.