Topic: Sylvia Porter

Sylvia Field Porter (18 June 1913 - 5 June 1991) was an American economist and journalist. At the height of her career, her readership was greater than 40 million people.

Born Patchogue, New York, on Long Island as Sylvia Field Feldman, she aspired to be an author at the age of six. Originally majoring in English literature, she switched to economics and finance after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It has been suggested that her fiancee, bank employee Reed Porter, was relying upon Sylvia to explain the complications of the worldwide financial panic. They were married in 1931.

She graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College in 1932, and her expertise in government bonds enabled her to get a job as assistant to the president of an investment counseling firm. Working 12 hour days, she quickly learned more about the bond market, currency fluctuations and movements of the price of gold. In her spare time, she pursued an MBA at New York University.