Sylvia Ostry

Sylvia Ostry CC OM FRSC (née Knelman; June 3, 1927 – May 7, 2020) was a Canadian economist and public servant.

Born Sylvia Knelman in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 3, 1927, she received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from McGill University in 1948, a Master of Arts from McGill in 1950, and eventually earned her PhD from Girton College, Cambridge in 1954.

Later, in 1986 Ostry became a member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty.

During the 1988 G7 Summit in Toronto, Ostry served as Canada's sherpa.

[6] In 1997, a lecture series was begun in her honour by Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.