He did his PhD work under James Chadwick at Cavendish Laboratory, which was led by Ernest Rutherford, receiving his degree in 1932.
He co-wrote the first "textbook" in the subject: Applied Nuclear Physics with William L. Davidson, Jr. then Research Physicist of the B.F. Goodrich Company, published in 1942.
A department of biophysics was formally organized there in 1954, with funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation, where he became a professor, serving as the departmental chairman until 1961.
During this time, Pollard supervised numerous doctoral students including the future Crafoord Prize winner Carl Woese.
He was also a member of the national Democratic advisory committee on science and technology during John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.