Eric Helland
William F. Podlich Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow
Claremont McKenna College
Eric Helland is the William F. Podlich Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College and an adjunct economist in the Institute for Civil Justice at the RAND Corporation. He is also an academic affiliate of the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE).
His research examines litigation and regulation using law & economics methods, with a focus on pharmaceutical and patent litigation, securities litigation, auto safety, and medical malpractice.
At Claremont McKenna College, Helland has served in a range of academic roles, including professor, associate professor, and assistant professor of economics, as well as chair of the faculty in the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance. He is also affiliated faculty at Claremont Graduate University.
He concurrently works as an economist at the RAND Corporation’s Institute for Civil Justice and has held research leadership roles there. He previously served as a senior staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Helland has held several visiting appointments, including visiting scholar at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and visiting professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also served as a visiting fellow at the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago.
Earlier in his career, he taught at Ball State University and held instructional appointments at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis. He also worked as a health-policy analyst in the private sector.
He has received the Robert H. Durr Award from the Midwest Political Science Association and multiple teaching awards, including the G. David Huntoon Senior Teaching Award and the Dean’s Teaching Award at Ball State University. He is a Roberts Fellow and a Lowe Fellow of the Lowe Institute of Political Economy.
Helland earned a Ph.D. in economics and a master’s in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s from the University of Missouri.
