CLIPS & RECS
Eric Paul Harding
Editor-in-Chief, Contingencies, 2014–2024
A decade spent as an editor means most of the work carries someone else's byline — the features, the departments, the special sections all point outward. These are the pages that carried mine: ten years of Editor's Notes for Contingencies,
the American Academy of Actuaries' flagship publication.
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
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01
Contingencies · Sep/Oct 2019
How poring over baseball box scores as a kid showed me that numbers are pretty much useless without the human story behind the game.
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02
Contingencies · Jan/Feb 2021
Getting thoroughly humbled by municipal trash dispatch after trying — and failing — to conquer a pandemic-era mountain of cardboard.
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03
Contingencies · May/Jun 2021
How fixing one rotting pergola beam led to buying half a hardware store, and what domestic over-tooling reveals about deferred maintenance.
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04
Contingencies · Jul/Aug 2017
Confessing a poker habit to an audience of professional risk managers to explore why we're actually drawn to uncertainty.
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05
Contingencies · May/Jun 2019
Using pencil marks on a kid’s doorframe to show the awkward friction between day-to-day chaos and 30-year planning horizons.
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06
Contingencies · Nov/Dec 2020
A clear-eyed look at mid-pandemic fatigue and our stubborn human habit of hunting for clean patterns inside a total mess.
During my tenure as Editor-in-Chief, the magazine was recognized with national EXCEL and Folio awards, including:
- 2015 EXCEL Award for Outstanding Feature Article, “Smoke & Mirrors: Marijuana Use and Life Underwriting”
- 2016 EXCEL Award for Cover Design, “In the Red Zone—Sports and Concussions”
- 2016 Folio Award for Best Feature Article, “In the Red Zone—Sports and Concussions”
- 2021 EXCEL Award for Outstanding Feature Article, “Realigning LTCI”
Content Lead, American Academy of Actuaries
I edited every document the Academy issued for content and style. Here are a few that were fun to work on.
SELECTED WORKS
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01
April 2024
This monograph compares how major Social Security reform proposals balance benefit adequacy, contribution fairness, and long-term solvency.
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02
September 2024
A big data white paper for actuarial practice outlines how actuaries should evaluate, govern, and responsibly use modern data sources in analytics and modeling.
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03
November 2023
A series of issue briefs explores how employers can use benefit design to reduce health disparities and advance health equity while overcoming implementation, data, and cost challenges.
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04
November 2015
In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Academy developed a bespoke commemorative book chronicling its history and the evolution of the actuarial profession in the United States.
Recommendations
I've worked with many talented and inspiring individuals over the years. Some of them were kind enough to admit it.
THEY SAID IT
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01
Srivathsan Margan, Contingencies contributor
"What I respect most about Eric is the combination of editorial rigor and intellectual openness. He maintained the standards expected of a professional magazine while encouraging a writer to explore unfamiliar territory and develop an individual point of view."
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02
James P. Lynch, Contingencies contributor
"He always had clear editorial judgment. The story was important, but the magazine was paramount. When he liked an idea, he pushed me to write the hell out of it."
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03
Kyle Woodley [now EIC of Young and the Invested], my Deputy Managing Editor at InvestorPlace.com and later proofreader at Contingencies
"Eric has always been a creative, capable and compassionate manager. He understands the balance it takes to ensure team members are not just productive, but invested in one another and proud of their collective work."
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04
George Moriarty [now with Axios Pro], Executive Editor, TheStreet
"Eric delivers the full package in a newsroom. Thoughtful, diligent, and efficient, he can manage multiple projects and personalities with aplomb."