Innovation has always been a driving force for the exchanges that form CME Group: CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX. We have continually embraced change and fostered an entrepreneurial spirit that has enabled both our exchanges – as well as the futures industry – to grow and prosper. We know from firsthand experience that innovation can transform business, influence the direction of civilization and alter its reality for the better.
But creative thinking and great ideas cannot exist in a vacuum – they benefit and gain momentum by being spread far and wide. Recognizing this, in 2003 CME founded the CME Center for Innovation – now called the CME Group Center for Innovation (CFI).
The CFI creates and sponsors thought-provoking original programming that identifies, showcases and fosters examples of significant innovation and creative thinking across multiple industries in both the public and private sectors. Each of the programs explores and communicates the principles behind innovation, and more importantly, showcases their application to a broad and diverse audience.
The CFI's programs help advance the application of innovation by providing a broad, multi-industry analysis of the concept. The CFI is interested in evaluating not only the principles behind innovation, but in taking a strong, hard look at innovation in action.
Competitive Markets Advisory Council (CMAC)
The CME Group Competitive Markets Advisory Council (CMAC) was originally organized by Nobel Laureates Myron Scholes and Gary Becker in partnership with CME Group Chairman Emeritus Leo Melamed in March 2004. CMAC consists of financial experts, including Nobel Prize winners, who serve as a “think tank” to develop and provide advice to the Board in the form of policy, analyses, position papers and other strategic recommendations on significant market issues. Notably, CMAC plays an integral leadership role within the CME Group Center for Innovation by selecting the annual recipients of the CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award and the CME Group-MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications.
CMAC Members
- Jacob A. Frenkel, CMAC Co-Chairman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Group of Thirty (G-30), Chairman of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University, and Chairman JPMorgan Chase International
- Leo Melamed, CMAC Co-Chairman and Chairman Emeritus, CME Group
- Lars Peter Hansen, David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Statistics, University of Chicago and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences (2013)
- Michael H. Moskow, Vice Chairman and Senior Fellow for the Global Economy, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
- Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences (2013)
- Don Wilson, Founder and CEO, DRW
The following CME Group Officials also serve as members of CMAC:
- Derek Sammann, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Commodities, Options and International Markets, CME Group
The CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award
The CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award is the signature program of the CME Group Center for Innovation. The award honors an individual or group of individuals whose innovative ideas, products or services have created significant change to markets commerce or trade. The award strives to celebrate innovation in action — not only the creative idea, but also the impact that practical application of the idea has made on improving the economic well-being of individuals, an industry or a nation.
CME Group named this award to honor Leo Melamed for his revolutionary achievements in introducing financial futures instruments to futures markets in 1972, and Fred Arditti, whose achievements in the 1980s developing CME's eurodollar interest rate and weather futures significantly advanced the management of risk in the futures industry. These innovations were instrumental in helping CME Group become the world’s leading derivatives marketplace.
Leo Melamed is recognized as the founder of financial futures. As Chairman of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), he led the exchange's launch of currency futures with the creation of the International Monetary Market (IMM) in 1972—the first futures market for financial instruments. The introduction of financial futures paved the way for CME's launch of futures contracts on U.S. Treasury Bills, Eurodollars, and stock indexes in the decade that followed. In 1986, Melamed conceptualized CME’s Globex system, the first electronic trading platform for futures and options, and was instrumental in its launch in 1992. Currently Chairman Emeritus of CME Group and Chairman of Strategic Steering, Melamed continues his leadership role to help CME Group advance the world economy.
Fred Arditti developed futures contracts that transformed how businesses and individuals manage risk. Most notably, in 1981 he architected CME Eurodollar futures, the world's most actively traded futures contract today. Later, he was instrumental in strengthening CME’s focus on innovation in light of intensive competition from domestic and international markets. It was during this time that he originated weather futures. After his time at CME, he taught courses in futures and options while serving as a professor of finance at DePaul University in Chicago, as chairman of the University of Florida's Economics Department, and as a visiting professor at several institutions. Arditti authored the book "Derivatives" which remains one of the most authoritative publications on the subject at U.S. universities.
Historical Note
In 2013, the CMAC unanimously recommended that the award be renamed from the CME Group Fred Arditti Innovation Award to the CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award in recognition of Leo Melamed's revolutionary innovation of introducing futures in financial instruments in 1972. Melamed's contributions enabled the creation of effective and efficient global risk management tools through futures markets. These innovations have been copied by financial centers around the world.
The CME Group Competitive Markets Advisory Council (CMAC), a council of outside advisors originally organized by Nobel Laureates Myron Scholes and Gary Becker in partnership with Leo Melamed in 2004, is responsible for selecting each year's award recipient. John Gould, the Steven G. Rothmeier Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serves as the council's chairman. Members include David D. Hale, International Economist and Founder, Hale Global Advisors, LLC; Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance and Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering, MIT; Michael H. Moskow, Vice Chairman and Senior Fellow for the Global Economy, Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University.
CME Group-MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications
In conjunction with the esteemed Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), the CME Group-MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications rewards exemplary work in the field of mathematical sciences and recognizes the vital impact quantitative research and application play in shaping global financial markets.
This prize recognizes an individual or group who has contributed and applied original and significant ideas and concepts to quantitative fields such as mathematics, statistics and computing.
The 2021 CME Group-MSRI Prize will be presented to Nancy Stokey at a seminar event and luncheon on Monday, May 16, 2022. For more information, please contact events@cmegroup.com
CME GROUP-MSRI PRIZE IN INNOVATIVE QUANTITATIVE APPLICATIONS RECIPIENTS |
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|---|---|---|
Nancy Stokey |
2021 |
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Daron Acemoglu |
2020 |
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Susan Athey |
2019 |
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Albert Kyle |
2018 |
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Paul Milgrom |
2017 |
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Robert Wilson |
2016 |
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Douglas Diamond |
2015 |
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Jose Scheinkman |
2014 |
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Bengt Holmstrom |
2013 |
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Robert J. Shiller |
2012 |
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Thomas J. Sargent |
2011 |
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Jean Tirole |
2010 |
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Sanford J. Grossman |
2009 |
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Lars Peter Hansen |
2008 |
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David M. Kreps |
2007 |
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Stephen A. Ross |
2006 |
The CME Group Star Partnership Mayoral Award was developed by CME Group in conjunction with the Office of the Mayor and the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). Its purpose is to provide financial assistance to Chicago Star Scholars who are continuing their journey towards obtaining a bachelor’s degree.
The award is available to Star Scholars who are seeking to transfer from CCC to one of 26 four-year colleges or universities that are partners in the Chicago Star Scholarship Program – in order to pursue a degree in accounting, business management, computer science (IT), economics, finance or math.
CME Group will provide individual scholarships of $5,000 ($2,500 per year for two years) to 25 students annually.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for this scholarship opportunity, students must be Star Scholars graduating in May 2024 with an associate degree from Chicago’s community college system with a major in accounting, business management, computer science (IT), economics, finance, or math. Their cumulative GPA must be 3.0 or above. Students must be transferring to one of the Chicago Star Partnership program colleges or universities in Fall 2024 to earn their four-year undergraduate degrees.
Longstanding partnership with the Office of the Mayor of Chicago in support of public education
CME Group first partnered with the Office of the Mayor of Chicago in 1986 to create its annual CME Group Mayoral Award for Student Achievement. This program was created in conjunction with both the Mayor’s office and the Chicago Board of Education to honor high-achieving Chicago Public School (CPS) graduates. Since its inception, CME Group has awarded more than $2 million to thousands of high-achieving CPS students to help them reach their academic goals. Building on the success of this program, CME Group has evolved the partnership to establish the CME Group Star Partnership Mayoral program, providing financial assistance to CPS graduates further along in their educational journey. CME Group, through its CME Group Center for Innovation, is proud to sponsor such innovative programming for talented CPS graduates. The program is a testament to the strength of our city’s public schools and helps invest in the vitality of our future business community.
The application window for the 2024 CME Group Star Partnership Mayoral Award is now closed. If you have any questions, please contact Education@CMEGroup.com.
Employee Innovation Program
Each year, the CME Group Center for Innovation also recognizes CME Group employees whose original thinking has led to developments in CME Group products, services and technology through its Employee Inventor Program. The program encourages CME employees to be innovative and to bring their ideas, particularly patentable ideas, to the company’s attention by awarding cash bonuses and other recognition to those employees who apply for and are issued U.S. patents. Innovations cover both new inventions implemented at CME and ideas we may someday implement, in areas such as technology, clearing operations, product development and market data services. The CFI is honored to recognize the strength of human capital and intellectual property at CME Group by conferring these awards.
CME Group employee inventors who have been recognized since the program’s inception represent nearly all divisions and a wide range of levels within the organizations. Over 100 CME Group employees have been named on at least one patent application of the four granted patents and 99 U.S. patent applications by CME Group.
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