Sharon Epperson

Epperson is the daughter of David E. Epperson and Ceceila T. Epperson, a retired schoolteacher in the Pittsburgh Public School System, last teaching at Lincoln Elementary School in Pittsburgh.[3] Her grandfather was a steelworker.[3] Her father, now deceased, was Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh for nearly 30 years and was the first African-American dean at the school.[3]

Epperson graduated from Pittsburgh's Taylor Allderdice High School in 1986 and was inducted into their alumni hall of fame in 2011.[4] She served a summer internship at the age of 18 in the Pittsburgh Press library department.

Epperson holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and government from Harvard University, a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University, and an honorary doctorate from Carlow University in Pittsburgh.[5][2][6] At Harvard, she joined the Lambda Upsilon chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[7] She has been an adjunct instructor of international affairs at Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs since 2000.[7]

In 1996, Epperson began working with CNBC.[7] She was previously CNBC's senior energy correspondent, stationed at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) covering the commodities markets on a daily basis for eight years. In 2015, Epperson was one of six panelists covering the Republican presidential debate.[8][7]

Epperson has covered personal finance in a column for USA Weekend magazine and her writing has also appeared in Essence magazine, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Self magazine.[5]

She also authored The Big Payoff: 8 Steps Couples Can Take to Make the Most of Their Money and Live Richly Ever After. [9]

Epperson hosts the digital video series Retire Well.[2]

1995: 1st place honors from the National Association of Black Journalists for team coverage on Time magazine's cover story on the Nation of Islam.
1999: Silver World Medal from the New York Festivals, an international television programming competition.
2001: Gracie Allen Award from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television.
2003: Trailblazer of the Year Award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
2003: All-Star Award from the Association of Women in Communications.

A native of Pittsburgh, she and her husband, Christopher John Farley, also an award-winning journalist and author, live in Westchester County, N.Y., with their two children. They have been married since August 30, 1997.[1][6] Her sister, Lia Epperson, is a civil rights lawyer and law professor at American University Washington College of Law, and former NAACP CEO Ben Jealous is Sharon's former brother-in-law.[3][10]

In 2016, Epperson suffered rupture of a brain aneurysm while at the gym, but had no permanent brain damage.[11][6]

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