“Seek feedback aggressively and don’t personalize what you hear.”—Susan Abrams, The New Success Rules for Women

“Be sure that the bottle [of wine] you order is the bottle you receive. Sometimes a restaurant will cavalierly substitute a less expensive year but still charge you the higher price.”—Jean Chatzky, Talking Money: Everything You Need to Know about Your Finances and Your Future

“Soon or later every parent gets around to thinking about the unthinkable: Who would raise my children if something were to happen to me? Who would provide for them if I weren’t around? The way to answer those questions, of course, is to name a guardian in your will.”—Carolyn Geer, Fortune magazine, February 21, 2000

By Leslie Whitaker / Illustration by Josef Gast

Wondering how to boost your retirement savings? Whether you should set short- or long-term career goals? How to invest online? Chances are, just about any question you might have about personal finance or career development can be answered by one of three women from the Class of 1986: Jean Sherman Chatzky C’86, Carolyn T. Geer C’86 and Susan Abrams W’86 C’86.
   Chatzky, the best-known of the three, is NBC’s Today show financial contributor. She also appears regularly on MSNBC and serves as a columnist for Money and USA Today. Geer writes Fortune’s “Money Manager” column and selected feature articles. Abrams, a Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, became an author after stints as a non-profit executive, management consultant and investment banker.
   While only two of these three business writers knew each other at PennñChatzky and Abrams—they share many traits. Two were English majors (Chatzy and Geer). Two married Penn alums (Geer and Abrams). Two have offices in the Time-Life Building in midtown Manhattan (Chatzky and Geer). And all three joyfully combine career and motherhood. Here’s what they’re up to as their 15th Reunion approaches this spring:

Jan/Feb Contents | Gazette Home

Copyright 2001 The Pennsylvania Gazette Last modified 1/2/01