Jane Bryant Quinn

News organizations and titles: Personal finance columnist, Newsweek, 1978-present; syndicated financial columnist, Washington Post Writers Group, 1974-present; contributing financial columnist, Good Housekeeping, 1995-present; financial columnist for Women's Day, 1974-95; business correspondent, ABC-TV Home Show, 1991-93; host, PBS financial series "Take Charge!" 1988; business correspondent, CBS-TV, 1980-87; business correspondent WCBS-TV, New York City, 1979; editor in chief and then general manager, Business Week Letter, 1969-74; senior editor, Cowles Book Co., New York City, 1968; reporter, then co-editor, The Insider's, a newsletter published by Look magazine, 1962-67. She also makes appearances on "Good Morning America" and "Nightline."

Legacy: From the pages of Newsweek to the television screen to book jackets, Ms. Quinn enlivens the world of personal finance with her astute observations and creative topic choices.

Personal: Born Feb. 5, 1939, in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Family: Married lawyer David Conrad Quinn on June 10, 1967. She has five children, including three stepchildren.

Books: "Everybody's Money Book," "Making the Most of Your Money," "A Hole in the Market."

Awards: John Hancock Award, 1992; Gerald Loeb Award, 1995; Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award, 1997; an Emmy; three National Press Club awards for consumer journalism; and two National Headline awards. Named by World Almanac as one of the 25 most influential women in the United States.

Education: Middlebury College, magna cum laude, 1960. Phi Beta Kappa.

What she has said about herself upon entering personal finance journalism: "I was working on this newsletter and I was low person on the totem pole, and they handed me consumer business stuff and I started to write it. I discovered that it was fascinating. I loved it."

Home run stories or accomplishments: Newsweek credited its columnist for alerting readers to the "dangerous speculation by savings and loans in 1984." The publication also said she was the first to warn consumers about "misleading sales practices in the life-insurance business."

What she made news or headlines for: In 1997 she, with Andrew Tobias, hosted an eight-part PBS series called "Beyond Wall Street." Nine years earlier, she hosted the PBS series "Take Charge!"

What others have said about her: The Loeb jury praised her as tops among "the nation's best known and most trusted" voices on personal finance.