Harold Pollack –

Julius Rosenwald, seen in 1926, was a Chicago businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as the part-owner of Sears, Roebuck & Co. and for starting the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions to educate rural African American children in the South. Rosenwald was also a founder of the Museum of Science and Industry and served as its president from 1927 to 1932, the year he died. Besides helping Jewish immigrants who came to Chicago, Rosenwald was most famous for establishing more than 5,000 Rosenwald schools in the rural South. (Chicago Herald & Examiner)

Harold Pollack: Modern-day billionaires don’t compare to Julius Rosenwald

August 14, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Chicagoan Julius Rosenwald understood that people with great resources also have a responsibility to use these resources to help others.

Vice President Joe Biden arrives with Kayla Kosmalski of Bear, Delaware, during a celebration of the ABLE Act, Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, with members of Congress on Feb. 10, 2015, at the White House in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Michael Frerichs and Harold Pollack: More Illinoisans with disabilities can now save and invest

March 12, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

A new law allows more Illinoisans with disabilities to save and invest to increase independence and improve quality of life.

(Shadrin Andrey/iStockphoto/Getty Images)

Harold Pollack: I studied the high male suicide rate. Then I lost my friend to it.

August 13, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

We middle-aged and older men face higher suicide rates than are found among our teenage sons and grandsons, or among women at any age.

Two-flat buildings in the 2700 block of North Albany Avenue in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood on March 2, 2022. (Jose M. Osorio/ baiduhai)

Researchers: How to fight racial segregation? End exclusionary zoning in Illinois.

September 6, 2024 at 1:29 p.m.

In large swaths of Illinois’ towns and cities, exclusionary zoning laws block the construction of affordable multifamily housing.

Mayor Brandon Johnson's lectern at City Hall on Aug. 2, 2023.

Harold Pollack and Jason Lerner: Here’s why Chicago needs a Mayor’s Office for Medicaid

August 22, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has advanced an ambitious agenda that has the potential to improve millions of lives across Chicagoland. The new administration has a particularly valuable opportunity given the political...

The 911 call center at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications in Chicago in 2016.

Researchers: Illinois lawmakers shouldn’t rob 911 funds to pay for 988 hotline

May 30, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Imagine that you or your family experience a real emergency. Maybe your partner is having a heart attack. Maybe your kitchen is on fire. Maybe someone is trying to break...

All you need to tame your finances can fit on an index card

June 22, 2019 at 11:43 p.m.

Four years ago, in a blog conversation with finance writer Helaine Olen, I joked that the best financial advice for most people is available for free in the library and...

Arab terror

August 20, 2021 at 3:33 a.m.

It is difficult for Israel to find a peace partner among the Palestinian people. When anyone has the nerve to dissent among the Palestinians, he is summarily executed as an...

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